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Rollo  in  Geneva  / 


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ROLLO    IN    GENEVA 


Br 


JACOB    ABBOTT, 


KEvV  YORK: 
J  0  II  X     R.     A  IS^  D  E  R  S  O  N, 

PUBLISFIJEE. 


Entered  nrcordlng  to  Act  of  Confess,  !n  lh«  yrar  1S58,  by 
JACOB     ABBOTT. 

In  th«  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Conrt  of  the  District  of  Mati 

chueetU. 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS  OF  THE  STORY. 

RoLLO  ;  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  RoUo's  father  and  mcther,  traveU 

ling  in  Europe. 
Thanny  ;  Rollo's  3'ounger  brother. 

Jane  J  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
Mr.  George;  a  young- gentleman,  Rollo's  uncle. 


COINTENTS. 


OBAnSB 

I.  —  The  Fame  of  Geneva,  . 
II.  —  Planning, 

III.  —  The  Ride  to  Geneva,  . 

IV.  —  The  Town, 
V.  —  The  Hotel,      . 

VI.  —  A  Ride  in  the  Environs, 

VII.  —  The  Junction  of  the  Abvb, 

VIII.  —  Seeing  Mont  Blanc  go  out 

IX.  —  A  Law  Question,    . 

X.  —  An  Excursion  on  the  Lake 

XL  —  Villeneuve,     . 

XII.  —  The  Castle  of  Chillon, 

XIII.  —  Plan  Formed, 

XIV.  —  Walk  to  Aiglb,     . 
XV.  —  The  Jewelry, 

XVI.  —  A   FOBTUNATB   ACCIDENT, 


rk9r 

11 
24 
85 
55 

64 
71 
93 
108 
122 
134 
148 
155 
171 
179 
197 
209 


ENGRAVINGS 


The  Castle  of  Chillon,  (Frontispiece.) 

The  Great  Net,    ... 

.      30 

Going  through  the  Villaob,    . 

.        .         .      46 

View  of  Geneva, 

.       58 

The  Water  Wheel,     .... 

100 

Fishing,    ...... 

104 

Going  to  take  a  Sail, 

132 

The  Dungeons  op  Chilloh, 

161 

The  Basket  Ride,        .... 

.    185 

BUOPPINQ    AT    GxNSTAi    .... 

.    203 

liOLLO  IN  GENEVA. 

Chapter  I. 
The  Fame  of  Geneva. 

city  of  Goneva.  The  crescent  lai>i. 

GENEVA  is  one  of  tlic  most  remarkable  and 
most  celebrated  cities  in  Europe.  It  de- 
rives its  celebrity,  however,  not  so  much  from  it? 
size,  or  from  tlie  magnificence  of  its  edifices,  as 
from  the  peculiar  beauty  of  its  situation,  and 
from  the  circumstances  of  its  history. 

Geneva  is  situated  upon  the  confines  of  Franco, 
Switzerland,  and  Sardinia,  at  the  outlet  of  the 
Lake  of  Geneva,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  beau- 
tiful, and  certainly  the  most  celebrated,  lake  iu 
Switzerland.  It  is  shaped  like  a  crescent,  —  that 
is,  like  the  new  moon,  or  rather  like  the  moon 
after  it  is  about  four  or  five  days  old.  The  iowci* 
end  of  the  lake  —  tliat  is,  the  end  wiiere  Geneva 
is  situated  —  lies  in  a  com})aratively  open  couii- 
trv,  though  vast  rantres  of  loflv  mountains,  some 

^11)  ' 


12     *  ROLLO     IN     G'ENBVA 


riie  blue  wateis  of  the  lake.  The  lake,  the  city,  aod  the  river 


of  them  covered  with  perpetual  snow,  are  to  be 
seen  in  tlie  distance  all  around.  All  the  country 
near,  however,  at  this  end  of  the  lake,  is  gently 
undulating,  and  it  is  extremely  fertile  and  beau- 
tiful.  There  are  a  great  many  elegant  country 
seats  along  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  on  the 
banks  of  the  River  Rlioiie,  wliich  flows  out  of  it. 
The  waters  of  the  lake  at  this  end,  and  of  the 
river  which  issues  from  it,  are  very  clear,  and  of 
a  deep  and  beautiful  l)lue  color.  This  blue  color 
is  so  remarkable  that  it  attracts  the  attention  of 
every  one  who  looks  down  into  it  from  a  bridge 
or  from  a  boat,  and  there  have  been  a  great  many 
suppositions  and  speculations  made  in  respect  to 
the  cause  of  it ;  but  I  believe  that,  after  all,  no- 
body has  yet  been  able  to  lind  out  what  the 
cause  is. 

The  city  of  Geneva  is  situated  exactly  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  lake,  that  is,  at  the  western  end ; 
and  the  River  Rhone,  in  coming  out  of  the  lake, 
Oows  directly  through  the  town. 

The  lake  is  about  fifty  miles  long,  and  the  eastern 
end  of  it  runs  far  in  among  the  mountains.  These 
uioimtains  are  very  dark  and  sombre,  and  their 
sides  ris.e  so  precipitously  from  the  margin  of  the 
water  that  in  many  places  there  is  scarcely  room 
for  a  road  along  the  shore.  Indeed,  you  go  gen- 
erally to  that  end  of  the  lake  in  a  steamer  ;  and 


The   Fame   op    Geneva.         13 

Tho  Khono.  The  lake  of  Geneva  is  gradually  being  filled  up. 

as  you  advance,  tlie  mountaius  seem  to  shut  yon 
in  completely  at  the  end  of  the  lake.  But  when 
you  get  near  to  the  end,  you  see  a  narrow  valley 
opening  before  you,  with  high  mountains  on  either 
iiand,  and  the  River  Rhone  flowing  very  swiftly 
between  green  and  beautiful  banks  in  the  middle 
of  it.  Besides  the  river,  there  is  a  magnificent 
road  to  be  seen  running  along  this  valley.  This 
is  tlie  great  high  road  leading  from  France  into 
Italy  ;  and  it  has  been  known  and  travelled  as 
such  ever  since  the  days  of  the  old  Romans. 

The  River  Rhone,  where  it  flows  into  the  lake 
at  the  eastern  end  of  it,  is  very  thick  and  turbid, 
being  formed  from  torrents  coming  down  the 
mountain  sides,  or  from  muddy  streams  derived 
from  the  melting  of  the  glaciers.  At  the  we?^ 
ern  end,  on  the  other  hand,  where  it  issues  from 
tlie  lake,  the  water  is  beautifully  pellucid  and 
clear.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  during  its  slo'vv 
passage  through  the  lake  it  has  had  time  to  settle 
The  impurities  which  the  torrents  bring  dowL 
into  it  from  the  mountains  all  subside  to  the  bot/- 
tom  of  the  lake,  and  are  left  there,  and  thus  th^ 
water  comes  out  at  the  lower  end  quite  clear. 
The  lake  itself,  however,  is  of  course  gradually 
filling  up  by  means  of  this  process. 

There  are  several  large  and  handsome  houses 


14  R  0  r.  L  0   I  N    Geneva. 

Size  of  Geneva.  Tlie  c.tuses  •»!"  its  cclf  britv. 

On  the  northern  sliore  of  the  lake  ;  brit  Geneva,  at 
the  western  end  of  it,  entirely  surpasses  them  all. 

Geneva  is,  however,  after  all,  a  comparatively 
Rmall  town.  It  contains  only  thirty  or  forty  thou 
sand  inhabitants.  It  would  take  ten  Genevas  to 
make  a  New  York,  and  nearly  a  hundred  to  make 
a  Paris  or  London. 

Why,  then,  since  Geneva  is  comparatively  so 
small,  is  it  so  celebrated  ?  Almost  every  person 
who  goes  to  Europe  visits  Geneva,  and  talks  of 
Geneva  when  he  comes  back  ;  while  there  are 
multitudes  of  other  cities  and  towns,  many  times 
as  large  in  extent  and  population,  that  he  never 
thinks  of  or  speaks  of  at  all. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this. 

1.  The  first  reason  is,  that  this  town  stands  on 
the  great  high  road  leading  from  England  and 
France  into  Italy.  Of  course  it  comes  naturally 
in  the  way  of  all  travellers  making  the  grand 
tour.  It  is  true  that  at  the  j»rescnt  day,  since 
steam  has  been  introduced  upon  the  Mediterra- 
nean, a  very  large  proportion  of  travellers,  in- 
stead of  passing  through  Switzerland,  go  (h)\vn 
the  Rhone  to  Marseilles,  and  embark  there.  Hul 
before  the  introduction  of  steam,  for  many  agc-a, 
the  way  by  Geneva  \m\s  almost  the  only  way  to 
Italy;    and    the   city   acquired   great   celebrity 


T  u  K   F  A  M  E   OF    Geneva.  15 


Thb  two  n.utfs.  The  Alps  uJ  Favoy  uinl  the  Oberknd  Al{)9. 

Ihiough  the  accounts  of  tourists  and  traN-elicra 
who  visited  it  on  their  journe3^s. 

2.  The  ?econd  reason  is,  that  Geneva  is  a  con- 
VGiiicnt  and  agreeable  point  for  entering  Switzer- 
Ijud,  and  for  making  excursions  among  the  Alps. 
There  are  two  great  avenues  into  Switzerland 
fiom  France  and  Germany  —  one  by  way  of 
Geneva,  and  the  other  by  way  of  Basle.  By  the 
way  of  Basle  we  go  to  the  Jungfrau  and  the 
Obeiland  Alps  whicli  lie  around  that  mountain, 
and  to  tlie  beautiful  lakes  of  Zurich  and  of  Lu- 
cerne. All  these  lie  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
Alpine  region.  By  the  way  of  Geneva  we  go  to 
the  valley  of  Chamouni  and  Mont  Blanc,  and 
visit  the  vast  glaciers  and  the  stupendous  moun- 
tain scenery  that  lie  around  this  great  monarch 
Df  the  Alps. 

There  is  a  great  question  among  travellei*a 
which  of  these  two  Alpine  regions  is  the  most 
grand.  Some  prefer  the  mountains  about  Mont 
Blanc,  which  are  called  the  Alps  of  Savoy. 
Others  like  better  those  about  the  Jungfrau, 
which  are  called  the  Oberland  Alps.  The  sce- 
nery and  the  objects  of  interest  are  very  different 
in  the  two  localities  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
any  difference  which  travellers  may  observe  in 
the  grandeur  of  the  emotions  which  they  sever- 
ally produce  upon  the  mind  must  be  due  to  the 


16  RoLLO   IN    Geneva. 

Mont  Blauc.  Tlie  proper  piouuiiciatit  n  of  foreign  names. 

peculiar  circumstances  or  moods  of  mind  in  which 
thoy  are  visited.  It  is  true  you  can  get  nearer 
to  tlie  Jnn2;frau  than  you  can  to  Mont  J31anc. 
and  so  can  obtain  a  more  impressive  ^-icw  of  hig 
icy  and  rocky  sides  and  glittering  sunmiit.  But 
then,  on  the  other  liand,  Mont  Blanc  is  leally  the 
highest  peak,  and  is  looked  upon  as  the  great 
monarch  of  them  all. 

And  here,  as  tlie  name  of  Mont  Blauc  will  of 
course  often  appear  in  this  volume,  I  have  a  word 
or  two  to  say  in  respect  to  the  ju'oper  pronuncia- 
tion of  it  in  America  ;  for  the  projior  mode  of 
pronouncing  the  name  of  any  place  is  not  fixed, 
as  many  persons  think,  but  varies  ui[li  the  lan- 
guage which  you  are  using  in  ?(penki:;g  of  it. 
Thus  the  name  of  the  capital  of  France,  when 
we  are  in  France,  and  speaking  French,  is  pro- 
nounced Par-rcc  ;  but  when  we  uie  in  England 
and  America,  and  are  sj)caking  Knglish,  we  uni- 
versally pronounce  it  Par-is.  It  is  so  with  almost 
all  names  of  places.  They  change  the  ])ronun- 
ciation,  and  often  the  mode  of  spelling,  according 
to  the  analogy  of  the  language  used  by  the  per- 
eon  si)eaking  of  them. 

Many  persons  sujiposc  (hat  in  order  correctly 
to  pronounce  the  name  of  any  place  we  must  pro- 
nounce it  as  the  people  do  who  live  in  and  aiound 
the  place.     But  this  is  not  so.     The  rule,  ou  tiie 


The  Fame  of   Geneva.  17 

Madrid.  Paris.  Rome.  Mout  Blanc. 


otlier  hand,  is,  that  we  must  pronounce  it  as  the 
people  do  who  live  in  and  around  the  place  the 
language  of  which  we  are  speaking.  Thus  the 
jKJople  of  France  call  their  capital  Par-rcc ; 
those  of  Spain  call  theirs  something  like  this,  — 
Madhreedth;  the  Italians  pronounce  theirs  Koran; 
but  we,  in  talking  English,  say  simply,  Paris, 
Madrid,  and  Rome  ;  in  other  words,  when  we  are 
talking  English,  we  talk  F^iglish  throughout,  using 
English  words  for  names  of  things,  and  English 
pronunciation  for  names  of  places,  in  all  cases 
where  there  is  an  English  pronunciation  estab- 
lished,—  as  th'Cre  is  in  respect  to  all  the  rivers, 
towns,  mountains,  and  other  localities  on  the 
globe  th-at  are  well  known  and  often  spoken  of 
in  the  English  world. 

Mont  Blanc  is  one  of  these.  Like  the  word 
Paris  it  has  its  Fi-ench  pronunciation  for  the 
French,  and  its  Englisli  promuiciation  for  the 
English;  audits  English  pronunciation  is  as  if  it 
were  spelled  Mount  Blank  or  Mont  Blank.  Unde*- 
this  name  it  has  been  known  and  si)oken  of  fam^^ 
iarly  all  over  England  and  America  for  centu- 
ries ;  and  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  proper  name 
to  give  it  when  we  are  speaking  English. 

Its  French  pronunciation  is  very  different.  \i 
is  one  which  none  but  a  practical  French  scholar 
can  possibly  imitate,  except  in  a  very  awkward 


18  R  0  I.  I.  0     T  X     G  E  X  E  V  i 


Methods  of  prouiinciation. 


manner.  Those  who  liave  visited  France  and 
Switzerland,  and  have  been  accnstonied  to  the 
Frencli  sound,  often  give  the  word  the  French 
pronunciation  ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to 
do  so.  The  word,  like  Paris,  has  its  own  estab- 
lished English  sound  ;  and  if  it  is  not  pedar.try 
to  attempt  to  give  it  the  Frencli  sound  when 
speaking  English,  it  certainly  is  not  a  mispronun* 
ciation  to  give  it  the  English  one.  Indeed,  to 
require  the  French  pronunciation  of  the  word 
from  English  speakers  would  be  in  effect  to  ban- 
ish it  almost  altogether  from  conversation  ;  for 
among  the  ten  millions,  more  or  less,  in  England 
or  America,  who  speak  English  well  there  ia 
probably  not  one  in  a  thousand  that  can  possiblv 
give  the  word  its  true  French  pronunciation. 

In  reading  this  book,  therefore,  and  in  speak- 
ing of  the  great  Swiss  mountain,  you  are  per- 
fectly safe  in  giving  it  its  plain  English  sound,  ai 
if  it  were  written  Mont  Blank  ;  and  remcmbei 
the  principle,  as  applicable  to  all  other  similar 
i^'ases.  Wherever  a  foreign  name  lias  become  sr 
familiar  to  the  English  world  as  to  have  obtained 
an  established  English  pronunciation,  in  speakinf* 
English  wc  give  it  that  pronunciation,  without 
any  regard  to  the  usage  of  the  people  wlio  livo 
on  the  spot. 

But  HOW   J   ;iiusi    i(>iurn   to    Geneva,  and   giv« 


The   F  a  ^r  e   of    Geneva.  19 

The  tliir<]  cause  of  tbo  fame  of  Geneva. 

some  further  account  of  the  reasons  why  it  ha? 
been  so  celebrated. 

3.  The  third  reason  wii}^  Geneva  lias  acquirt^l 
gf)  much  celebrity  among  mankind  is  the  great 
i: umber  of  learned  and  distinguished  philosopjier? 
and  scholars  that  have  from  time  to  time  lived 
there.  Switzerland  is  a  rejDublic,  and  the  canton 
cf  Geneva  is  Protestant ;  and  thus  the  place  has 
nerved  as  a  sort  of  resort  and  refuge  for  all  the 
most  distinguished  foes  both  of  spiritual  and 
political  tyranny  tliat  have  risen  up  in  Europe  at 
intervals  during  the  last  five  hundred  years. 
Geneva  was  indeed  one  of  the  chief  centres  of 
the  Reformation  ;  and  almost  all  the  great  reform- 
ers visited  it  and  wrote  about  it,  and  thus  made 
all  the  world  fam.iliar  with  it,  during  the  exciting 
times  in  which  they  lived. 

Besides  this,  Geneva  has  been  made  the  resi- 
dence and  home  of  a  great  many  moral  and  polit- 
ical writers  within  the  last  one  or  two  centuries  • 
for  the  country,  being  republican,  is  much  moif 
open  and  free  than  most  of  the  other  count ii<'.' 
of  Europe.  Men  who  have  incurred  the  displca.-^- 
ure  of  their  own  governments  by  their  writiiijjs 
or  their  acts  find  a  safe  asylum  in  Geneva,  wheic 
they  can  think  and  say  what  they  please.  All 
chi.^-  has  tended  very  strongly  to  attract  the  atteii 
lion  of  mankind  to  Geneva,  as  to  a  e-ort  of  lunii 


20  RoLLO  IN   Geneva. 


Tlie  mechanical  prodticts  of  Geneva, 


nous  point  in  respect  to  moral  and  political 
science,  from  which  liglit  radiates  to  every  part 
of  the  civilized  world. 

4.  There  is  one  more  retison,  very  different 
from  the  preceding,  whicli  tends  to  make  Geneva 
famous,  and  to  draw  travellers  to  visit  it  at  the 
present  day;  and  that  is,  it  is  a  great  manufactur- 
ing place  for  watches  and  jewelry — one  of  the 
greatest,  indeed,  in  the  world.  Travellers,  in 
making  tho  teur  of  Europe,  —  and  American 
travellers  in  particular,  —  always  wish  to  bring 
home  with  tliem  a  great  number  and  variety  of 
purchases  ;  and  the  things  that  they  buy  tliey 
very  naturally  desire  to  buy  at  the  places  where 
they  arc  made.  It  is  not  merely  that  they  hope 
to  get  them  better  and  clieajxir  thei*e,  but  it  is  a 
pleasant  thouglit  to  be  associated  always  after- 
wards with  any  object  of  use  or  luxury  tliat  we 
possess,  that  we  bought  it  ourselves  at  the  place 
of  its  original  manufiicture.  Thus  the  gentlemeo 
wlio  travel  in  Europe  like  to  bring  home  a  fowl- 
ing-piece from  Birmingham,  a  telescope  from  Lori 
do'j,  or  a  painting  fi-om  Italy  ;  and  the  ladies,  ic 
planning  their  tour,  wish  it  to  include  Brussels  oi 
Valenciennes  for  laces,  and  Geneva  for  a  watch. 

Thus,  for  ol^e  reason  or  another,  immense  num- 
iicrs  of  peo[)ie  go  -every  year  to  Geneva,  in  the 
coui'sc  of  the  tour  tlK?y  make  in  Euro|>e,  either 


The   Fame   of    G  e  n  e  v  a  .  21 


From  Lyons  to  Geneva.  The  dilizenrp.  Rollo  in  Lyor.s 

for  business  or  pleasure.  It  is  estimated  tliat  tho 
nui^iber  of  tliest,  visitors  annually  is  not  less  than 
thirty  thousand  ;  and  tlie  chief  streets  and  quays 
of  the  town  are  marked  olmost  as  strikingly  by 
the  conspicuousness  and  splendor  of  the  hotels  aa 
B'-oadway  in  New  York. 

The  place  of  departure  in  France  for  Geneva 
is  Lyons.  If  you  look  upon  the  map  you  will 
sec  the  situation  of  Lyons  on  the  River  Rhone, 
almost  opposite  to  Geneva.  There  is  a  railroad 
from  Paris  to  Lyons,  and  so  on  down  the  Rhone 
to  Marseilles.  But  from  Lyons  up  to  Geneva  — 
which *is  likewise  situated  on  tlie  Rhone,  at  the 
place  where  it  issues  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva  — 
there  was  no  railroad  at  the  time  of  Hollo's  visit, 
though  there  was  one  in  the  process  of  construc- 
tion. Tlie  party  wei-e  obliged  to  travel  by  dili- 
gence  on  that  part  of  the  Journey.  The  diligence 
is  the  French  stage  coach.  The  diligence  leaves 
Lyons  in  the  evening,  and  travels  all  night.  As 
Mr.  Holiday  arrived  at  Lyons  the  evening  before, 
Rollo  had  the  whole  of  the  day  to  walk  about 
the  town  before  setting  out  for  his  evening  ride. 
Ilis  father  ga^'e  him  leave  to  go  out  alone,  and 
ramble  where  he  pleased. 

"The  most  curious  places,"  said  his  father, 
••  are  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  where  the 
silk  weavers  live.     Notice  what  bridge  you  ^o 


22  RoLLO   IN   Geneva. 

3Ir.  Holiday's  iustrnctioDs  to  Rc}!o. 

over,  SO  that  3'ou  will  know  it  again,  and  then  if 
you  get  lost  on  the  other  side  it  will  be  no  mat* 
tor.  All  yon  will  have  to  do  is  to  keep  coming 
down  hill  till  you  reach  the  river,  and  then  look 
np  and  down  till  you  see  the  bridge  where  you 
went  over.  That  will  bring  you  home.  And  be 
sure  to  be  at  home  by  five  o'clock.  We  are  going 
to  have  dinner  at  half  past  live." 

"  Tlien  won't  it  be  in  season,"  asked  Rollo,  "  if 
I  am  at  home  by  half  ]ta?t  five?  " 

"  In  season  for  what  ?  "  asked  his  father. 

"  Why,  to  save  my  dinner,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,^'  said  his  father  :  "it  might  be  ii^  season 
to  save  your  dinner,  but  that  is  not  what  I  am 
planning  to  save.  I  have  no  particular  uneasi- 
ness about  your  dinner." 

"  Why,  fatlier !  "  said  Rollo,  surprised. 

"  I  have  no  wish  to  have  you  go  hungry,"  re- 
nlied  his  father  ;  "but  then  if  by  any  chance  you 
happened  to  be  late  at  dinner,  it  would  be  of  no 
great  consequence,  for  you  could  buy  something, 
and  eat  it  in  the  diligence  by  the  way.  So  I  was 
not  planning  to  save  your  diinier." 

"Then  what  were  you  planning  to  save,  father?'' 
asked  Rollo. 

"  My  own  and  mother's  quiet  of  mind,"  replied 
Afr.  Holiday,  "especially  mother's.  If  five  niin- 
ritc:}  of  the  dinner  hour  were  to  come  and  yog 


The   Fame  of    Geneva 


23 


A  rule  for  children. 


should  not  appe<ar,  she  would  begin  to  be  uneasy; 
and  indeed  so  should  I.  In  sueh  cases  as  this, 
children  ought  always  to  come  before  the  (Imo 
w^hcn  their  parents  would  begin  to  feel  any  mi- 
easiness  respecting  them." 

Rolio  saw  at  once  the  correctness  of  this  prin* 
ciplc,  and  he  secretly  resolved  that  be  woul'l  be 
ol  Home  a  quarter  before  five 


2i  R  0  L  I.  0     I  N     G  E  X  EVA 


The  C011116  and  the  banquette  compared. 


Chapter    II. 
Planning. 

*'  What  part  of  the  diligence  are  we  going  to 
ride  in,  father  ? "  asked  Rollo,  as  they  were 
seated  at  dinner. 

"In  tlie  coupe,''*  paid  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  Ah,  father !  "  paid  Rollo  ;  "  1  wish  you  would 
go  on  the  banquette.  We  can  see  so  much  bet- 
ter on  the  banquette." 

"  It  would  be  rather  hard  climbing  for  mother," 
said  Mr.  Holiday,  *' to  get  up  to  tlic  banquette  — 
such  a  long  ladder.'' 

"  0,  mother  can  get  up  just  as  easily  as  not," 
said  Rollo.     "  Couldn't  you,  mother  ?  " 

"  I  am  more  afraid  about  getting  down  than 
getting  up,"  said  liis  mother. 

"  But  it  is  a  great  deal  ])leapanter  on  the  ban- 
quette," said  Rollo.  "  They  keep  talking  all  the 
time — the  conductor,  and  the  drivers,  and  rhe 
other  i)assengers  that  are  there ;  while  iy  the 
coupe  we  shall  be  all  by  ourselves.  Beside^,  it  is 
go  much  cheaper." 

•  FronounceU  i-ai/yA/y. 


P  L  A  N  NM  X  r, .  25 

CotnforJ  in  the  coup^.  ^  Kxcitenient  ill  the  hrtnipiette. 

'•It  is  cheaper,  I  knovv/^  said  Mr.  Holiday; 
"but,  then  as  to  the  talking,  I  tliink  we  sliall  want 
t(i  be  quiet,  aud  go  to  sleep  if  wc  can.  Von  sco 
it  \\il]  benight.'^' 

"Yes,  father,  that  is  true,"  said  Rollo  ;  "but  I 
had  rather  hear  them  talk.  I  can  understand 
almost  all  they  say.  And  then  I  like  to  see  them 
change  horses,  and  to  see  the  conductor  climb  up 
and  down.  Then,  besides,  at  almost  all  the  vil* 
lages  they  have  parcels  to  leave  at  the  inns  ;  and 
h  is  good  fun  to  see  them  take  the  parcels  out 
and  toss  them  down>  and  tell  the  bar  maid  at  the 
inn  what  she  is  to  do  with  them." 

"  All  that  must  be  very  amusing,"  said  Mr, 
Holiday  ;  "  but  it  would  not  be  so  comfortablo 
for  your  mother  to  mount  up  there.  Besides,  I 
have  engaged  our  places  already  in  the  coupe, 
and  paid  for  them.'' 

"  Why,  father!  "  said  Rollo.  "  When  did  you 
doit?" 

"I  sent  last  evening,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "It 
i^  necessary  to  engage  the  places  beforehand  at 
iliis  season.  There  is  so  much  travelling  into 
Switzerland  now  that  the  diligences  are  all  full. 
T  had  to  send  to  three  offices  before  I  could  get 
places." 

"  Are  there  three  offices?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  his  fa  the';  "there  are  three  dif 
Cerent  lines. 


26  R  0  L  T.  0   i  ^*    G  E  S'  E  V  A  . 

5Jr.  Holiday  pniposcs  to  Kt  llo  in  )>i-o<-iire  :t  sr.t  ii.>  the  Intiiuctie. 

'•  But  I'll  tell  \"()U  what  you  may  do,  Rollo,  if 
you  please,"  contiiiiiod  liis  father.  "*  You  may  o-c 
to  the  bureau,''^  and  see  if  you  can  cxcliange  ynur 
.'c;i(  ill  the  coupe  for  one  in  the  ba»iquettc,  if  you 
think  you  would  like  better  to  ride  tlierc.  There 
may  be  some  passenger  who  could  not  get  a  place 
in  the  coupe,  on  account  of  my  having  taken  them 
all,  and  who,  consequently,  took  one  ou  the  ban- 
quette, and  would  now  be  glad  to  exchange,  and 
pay  the  difference." 

"  How  much  would  the  difference  be?"  asked 
Rollo. 

"1  don'i  know,"  said  ^Ir.  Holiday;  "five  or 
six  franc.'^,  ])robably.  You  would  save  that  sum 
by  riding  on  the  banquette,  and  you  could  have 
it  to  buy  something  with  in  Geneva." 

"  Well,  sir,"  ^aid  Rollo,  joyfully,  "  I  should  like 
that  plan  very  much." 

"But  do  you  think,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  that 
you  know  French  enough  to  explain  it  at  the 
bureau,  and  make  the  change  ?  " 

"  O,  yes,  inotlier,"  said  Rollo;  "I  have  no 
doubt  1  can." 

So  Rollo  said  ho  would  iinish  his  dii'ncr  aj» 
Boon  as  he  could,  and  go  off  at  once  to  the  burea;i, 

•  Biirc:iu  is  the  French  woril  Tnorning  uHicc;  and  English  pcrv 
plo,  when  triivelling  in  France,  fa.ll  ititu  the  habit  of  using  thr 
It  H-d  in  that  8cni>c. 


Planning.  2'' 


The  condition  of  tlie  cxcliange.  The  quaint  old  inn. 

"  There  is  one  other  conditio n/'  said  his  father. 
"  If  I  let  you  ride  on  the  banquette,  and  let  3'ou 
have  all  the  money  that  you  save  for  your  own, 
you  must  write  a  full  account  of  your  ni<]-ht'3 
journey,  and  send  it  to  your  cousin  Lucy." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "I  will." 

Rollo  left  the  dinner  table  wliile  his  father  and 
mother  were  taking  their  coffee.  The  table  was 
one  of  a  number  of  separate  tables  arranged 
along  by  the  windows  on  the  front  side  of  a 
quaint  and  queer-looking  dining  room  —  or  salk 
a  manger,  as  they  call  it  —  in  one  of  the  Lyons 
inns.  Lideed,  the  whole  inn  was  very  quaint  and 
queer,  with  its  old  stone  staircases,  and  long  cor- 
ridors leading  to  tlie  various  apartments,  and  its 
antique  ceiling,  —  reminding  one,  as  Mr.  Holiday 
said,  of  tlie  inns  we  read  of  in  Don  Quixote  and 
other  ancient  romances. 

Rollo  left  his  father  and  mother  at  this  table, 
taking  their  coffee,  and  sallied  forth  to  find  his 
way  to  the  bureau  of  the  diligence. 

."  If  you  meet  with  any  difficulty,"  said  Mr. 
Uoliday,  as  Rollo  went  away,  "  engage  the  first 
cab  you  see,  and  the  cabman  will  take  you  directly 
thtre  for  a  franc  or  so." 

'^  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will." 

"And  if  you  don't  Hud  any  cab  readily,"  con- 
tinued his  father,  "engage  a  connnissioner  to  go 
with  you  and  show  you  the  way." 


28  R  CM.  L  O     T  X     G  E  X  E  V  A  . 


The  ccmmissioner.  Roll.)  sturlyin?  fho  map  nf  Lyons. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

A  commissioner  is  a  sort  of  jiorter  who  standa 
at  the  corners  of  the  streets  in  the  French  tou-ns, 
ready  to  do  any  thing  for  any  body  that  calls 
upon  liim. 

Rollo  resolved  not  to  employ  cither  a  cabman 
or  a  commissioner,  if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided. 
He  took  the  address  of  the  bureau  from  his  father, 
and  sallied  forth. 

lie  first  went  round  the  corner  to  a  bookstore 
where  he  recollected  to  have  seen  a  map  of  Lyons 
hanging  in  the  window.  He  looked  at  this  ma[), 
and  found  the  street  on  it  where  he  wished  to  uo. 
lie  then  studied  out  the  course  which  he  was  to 
take.  Lyons  stands  at,  or  rather  near,  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  two  rivers  Rhone  and  Saone.  lu 
comiuir  to  Lyons  from  Paris,  the  pjirty  had  como 
down  the  valley  of  the  Saone  ;  l)ut  now  ilicy  were 
to  leave  tins  valley,  and  follow  up  that  of  the 
Rhone  to  CJeneva,  which  is  situated,  as  has  already 
been  said,  on  the  Rhone,  at  the  |>oint  where  that 
river  issues  from  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 

'I'he  hotel  where  Hollo's  father  had  taken  lotlg- 
ings  was  near  the  Saone  ;  and  Rollo  found  that 
the  bureau  was  on  tiie  other  side  of  the  town, 
where  it  fronts  on  the  Rhone. 

So  Rollo  followed  the  course  which  he  had 
mark(Ml  oii    lor  Jii'iiselj"  on  the  niaj».      In  a  short 


Planning.  29 

The  quay  and  the  parapet  along  the  river. 


time  lie  saw  before  him  signs  of  briclgc:^  and  a 
river. 

"All,"  says  lie  to  himself;  "I  am  right ;  I  am 
coming  to  the  Rhone." 

He  went  on,  drawing  nearer  and  nearer.  At 
length  he  came  out  upon  the  broad  and  beautiful 
fjuay,  with  large  and  elegant  stone  buildings  on 
one  side  of  it,  and  a  broad  but  low  parapet  wall 
on  the  other,  separating  the  quay  from  tlie  water. 
There  was  a  sidewalk  along  this  wall,  with  many 
people  walking  on  it ;  and  here  and  there  men 
were  to  be  seen  leaning  upon  the  wall,  and  looking 
over  at  the  boats  on  the  river.  The  river  was 
broad,  and  it  flowed  very  ra})idly,  as  almost  ail 
water  does  which  has  just  come  from  Switzerlarid 
and  the  Alps.  On  looking  up  and  down,  RoHo 
saw  a  great  number  of  bridges  crossing  this 
stream,  with  teams  and  diligences,  and  in  one 
place  a  lung  troop  of  soldiers  passing  over.  Ou 
the  other  side,  the  })aiik  was  lined  with  massive 
blocks  of  stone  buildings.  In  a  word,  the  whole 
scene  presented  a  very  bright  and  animated  spec- 
tacle to  view. 

Nearly  opposite  to  the  place  where  Rollo  camo 
out  upon  the  river,  he  saw,  over  the  parapet  wall 
that  extended  along  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
quay,  a  very  large,  square  net  suspended  in  the 
air.     It  was  hung  by  means  of  ropes  at  t!.e  fcjr 


eo 


R  0  L  L  0  IN  Geneva, 


The  gr^Rt  net  which  Rollo  saw  in  Lyoup 


corners,  which  met  in  a  point  above,  whence  n 
larger  rope  went  up  to  a  pulley  whicli  was  at 
tached  to  the  end  of  a  spar  that  projected  IV. )m 
the  stern  of  a  boat.  The  net  was  slowly  descei.(b 
ing  into  the  water  wlien  Rollo  first  cauiilit  a  vi.  w 


>v 


THE   OULAf    NET. 


ol  It  ;  SO  he  ran  across,  and  looked  over  the  ^mr 
apct  to  see. 

The  net  descended  slowlv  into  the  water,     ii 


P  L  A  N  ^M  N  a .  31 


"BiiaiueRS  before  pleasure."  T'r.e  litiienu. 

was  let  down  by  men  in  the  boat  paying  out  tlie 
line  that  held  it. 

"Ah,"  said  Rollo  to  himself;  "that's  a  cnri- 
ous  way  to  rig  a  net.  I  should  like  to  stay  and 
see  them  pull  it  up  again,  so  as  to  see  how  maiij 
fish  they  take ;  but  business  first  and  plcasurG 
aflcrwards  is  the  rule." 

Po  he  left  the  parapet,  and  walked  along  the 
quay  towards  the  place  where  the  bureau  waa 
situated. 

"  I'll  come  back  here,"  said  he  to  himself, 
"  when  I  have  got  ray  place  on  the  banquette, 
and  see  them  fish  a  little  while,  if  I  find  tliere  is 
time." 

In  a  few  minutes  Rollo  came  to  the  place  he 
was  seeking.  It  was  in  a  little  square,  called 
Concert  Place,  opening  towards  the  river.  Roilo 
knew  the  bureau  by  seeing  the  diligence  Btanding 
before  the  door.  It  had  been  brought  up  there 
to  be  ready  for  the  baggage,  though  the  horses 
were  not  yet  harnessed  to  it. 

Rollo  went  into  the  office.  lie  found  himself 
in  a  small  room,  with  trunks  and  baggage  arrange;-] 
along  on  one  side  of  it,  and  a  little  enclosure  of 
railings,  with  a  desk  behind  it,  on  ih.e  other. 
There  was  a  young  man  sitting  at  this  desk, 
writing. 

"  This  must  be  a  clerk,  I  suppose,"  said  Rollo 
to  hini'^olf. 


82  R  0  L  L  0     IN     G  £  3f  £  V  A  , 


Jloilo  exc-bRiiges  bis  eeat  and  g;«iiJ3  eij^hl  f».-»;7c?. 

Opposite  to  wlicrc  the  clei'k  was  sittjug  theitj 
was  a  little  openiog  in  the  railing.-*,  for  jx^?ple  to 
poy  tlieir  money  and  take  tlicir  iicket?  ;  for  peo- 
ple lake  tickets  for  places  in  the  dHigenco,  in 
Enjope,  just  as  they  do  for  the  railroad.  Rollo 
ad\anced  to  this  opening,  and,  looking  tlinmgh 
it,  he  stated  his  ca?e  to  the  clerk.  He  :^aid  that 
he  had  a  place  in  the  co?i})^  that  lii:^  father  had 
taken  for  him,  ])ijt  that  he  wouhl  rnther  ride  on 
the  banquette,  if  there  was  rtMMii  lliere.  and  if 
any  body  would  take  his  ))lace  in  the  coui-e. 

Tlie  clerk  said  that  there  had  l«eeji  a  great 
many  persons  after  a  place  in  Hie  cfMipe  sitjce  it 
iiad  been  taken,  and  that  one  huh  had  In  ken  a 
place  on  the  banquette,  becau:^e  all  ihe  other 
places  in  the  coach  Iiad  l>een  engaireib 

"I  Ihink/'said  the  clerk,  "that  she  will  be  vor)' 
glad  to  exchange  with  you,  and  jniy  yrnj  the  dif« 
ference.  Hhe  lives  not  far  from  here,  and  if  yoa 
will  wait  a  few  minutes,  1  will  send  and  see." 

^o  the  clerk  called  a  connnissioner  who  stood 
nt  the  door,  and  after  giving  him  his  directinnn 
f^ent  him  away.  In  a  few  minutes  ihe  commit 
hiom^r  returned,  saying  that  the  lady  was  veiy 
glad  indeed  to  exchange.  He  brought  in  his 
hand  a  live  franc  j)iece  and  three  francs,  which 
was  the  diflerence  in  the  price  of  the  two  places, 
Th<'  clerk  gave  this  money  to   Hollo,  and   altered 


r  L  A  N'  N  I  X  0  .  33 

Wliat  Ro»-.»  iUd  Ix  f.re  tlie  hour  for  starting. 

the  entry  on  his  books  so  as  to  put  the  lady  in 
the  coupe  luid  Rollo  on  the  banquette.  Thus  the 
allair  was  all  arranged. 

Rollo  iomid  that  it  was  now  six  o'clock.  The 
diligence  was  not  to  set  out  until  half  past  seven  ; 
but  b}^  the  ruies  of  the  service  the  passengers 
wore  all  to  be  on  the  spot,  with  their  baggage, 
half  an  hour  before  the  time  ;  so  that  Rollo  knew 
that  his  father  and  mother  would  be  there  at 
seven. 

"  Tiiat  gives  me  just  an  hour,"  said  he  to  him- 
self; '*  so  I  shall  have  plenty  of  time  to  go  and 
see  how  they  manage  fishing  with  that  big  net."" 

He  accordingly  went  to  see  the  fishing,  but  w^as 
very  careful  to  return  some  minutes  before  th*^. 
appointed  time. 

Rollo  had  a  very  pleasant  ride  that  night  to 
Geneva.  He  wrote  a  long  and  full  account  of  it 
afterwards,  and  sent  it  to  his  cousin  I^ucy.  This 
letter  I  shall  give  in  the  next  chapter. 

The  reason  why  Rollo  wrote  so  long  an  ac- 
count of  his  journey  was  this  :  lliat  his  father 
required  him,  when  travelling,  to  spend  one  hour 
and  a  half  every  day  in  study  of  some  kind  ;  and 
writing  letters,  or  any  other  intellectual  occuj)a- 
tion  that  was  calculated  to  advance  his  education, 
was  considered  as  study.  In  consequence  of  this 
arrajigeuiont.  Roiio  was  never  in  a  hiii'iy  iu  come 


31 


R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 


Hollo  at  bis  studies. 


to  the  end  of  bis  letters,  for  he  liked  tlic  work  of 
writing  tliem  better  than  writing  Frencli  eier- 
cises,  or  working  on  arithmetic,  or  engaging  m 
any  of  the  other  avocations  wliich  devolved  \\K)n 
hiiJi  when  he  had  no  letters  on  har d. 


i/i\]i  ■. 


iff. 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.         35 


Hollo's  letter  to  Lis  cousin  Lucy. 


Chapter    III. 
The    Ride    to    Gene  \' a. 

'  Dear  Lucy  : 

"  I  am  going  to  give  you  an  account  of  my  night 
ride  from  Lyons  to  Geneva. 

"  I  got  to  the  diligence  office  before  fatlier  came, 
because  I  was  going  to  ride  up  in  the  bellows-top. 
I  call  it  the  bellows-top  so  that  you  may  under- 
stand it  better.  It  is  a  place  up  in  the  second 
story  of  tlie  diligence,  where  there  are  seats  foi 
four  persons,  and  a  great  bellows-top  over  theii 
heads.  /  think  it  is  the  best  place,  though  peo- 
ple have  to  pay  more  for  the  coupe,  which  is  right 
under  it.  I  got  eight  francs,  wdiich  is  more  than 
a  dollar  and  a  half  for  exchanging  my  seat  in  the 
coupe  for  one  on  the  banquette.  I  exchanged 
with  a  lady.  I  suppose  she  did  not  like  to  climb 
up  the  ladder.  You  see  in  the  coupe  you  step 
right  in  as  you  would  into  a  carriage  ;  but  you 
have  to  go  i:p  quite  a  long  ladder  to  get  to  the 
banquette.  I  counted  the  steps.  There  wero 
thirteen. 


30  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 


Packing  the  trunks  upon  tlit*  <)ili_'er!ce.  Ki^llds  scat. 


"  When  I  got  to  the  office,  the  men  were  u<ing 
ffie  ladder  to  put  up  the  ijaggage.  They  i)ut  the 
baggage  on  the  top  of  the  diligence,  along  the 
ndiole  length  of  it  bcliind  the  l)ellows-to]).  They 
pack  it  all  in  very  ch)scly,  beginning  inunediatcly 
tjehind,  and  coming  regularly  forwaid,  as  far  as 
it  will  rcacli.  There  is  a  fi-anie  over  it,  and  a 
great  leather  coveri'ig.  They  pull  the  covering 
forward  as  Aist  as  they  get  the  trunks  j)ackcd, 
until  at  last  the  baggage  is  all  covered  over  as 
far  forward  as  to  the  back  of  the  l>eIlows-top. 

"The  men  were  using  the  ladders  when  I  came, 
getting  up  the  baggage  ;  so  I  crnubed  up  by  the 
little  steps  that  are  made  on  the  side  of  the  dili- 
gence. I  liked  my  seat  very  much.  IJefore  me 
was  a  great  leather  boot.  The  boot  was  fastened 
to  an  iron  bar  that  went  across  in  front,  so  that 
it  did  not  come  against  my  knees.  Above  me 
was  the  bellows-top,  to  keep  off  the  rain.  Up 
under  the  roof  of  the  bellows-top  there  was  a 
sash  folded  together  and  fastened  up  by  straps. 
1  unfastened  one  of  the  straps,  and  saw  that  I 
coulil  let  down  the  sash  if  I  wished,  and  thus 
maki}  a  glass  window  in  front  of  me,  so  as  to 
shut  me  in  nicely  from  the  wind,  if  it  should 
grow  cold  in  the  night.  Behind  me  was  a  cur- 
tain. 'I'lie  cuitain  was  loose.  I  pushed  it  back, 
.uuld  look  out  on  the  top  of  the  dil- 


The    Ride    to    Gexeva.         37 


Thr  ^K>stili<'Of  r^-iil.  K<»no'8  orangeii. 

igcnce  where  the  mcii  were  at  work  packing  the 
trunks  and  baggage.  The  mea  wore  blue  frocka 
thaped  like  cartaien's  frock:^.* 

*'  Right  before  the  boot  was  the  postiiion's  scat. 
It  was  a  little  lower  than  my  seat,  and  was  largo 
enough  for  two.  The  oondui^tor's  scat  was  at  the 
end  of  luy  seat,  under  the  bellows- top.  Therf? 
was  one  thing  curious  about  his  seat,  aad  that  is, 
that  there  was  a  joint  in  the  iron  bar  of  the  boot, 
so  that  he  could  open  his  end  of  it,  and  get  out 
and  in  without  disturbing  the  boot  before  the 
rest  of  the  passengers.  When  I  wanted  to  get 
out  I  liad  to  climb  over  the  boot  to  the  postilion'R 
scat,  and  so  get  down  by  the  little  iron  steps. 

"  The  reason  I  wanted  to  get  down  was  so  aa 
to  buy  some  oranges.  There  was  a  woman  down 
there  with  oranges  to  sell.  She  had  them  in  a 
basket.  I  thought  perhaps  that  I  might  be  thirsty 
in  the  night,  and  that  I  could  not  get  down  ver^^ 
well  to  get  a  drink  of  water.  So  I  climbed  down 
and  bouglit  four  oranges.  I  bought  one  for  my- 
self, and  two  to  give  father  and  mother,  and  ono 
more  because  the  woman  looked  so  poor.  Be- 
sides, they  wei-e  not  very  dear  —  only  li'^ecn  cen- 
times apiece.  It  takes  five  centimes  tc  make  a 
sou,  and  a  sou  is  about  as  much  as  a  cent. 

♦  Such  .-x  frock  is  called  a  bloiis^  —  pronounced  blooze.  Almosl 
*U  worV.iiific  men  in  Frnnce  v>-pnr  them.  Kence  the  clfl«8  ot  wotkf 
men  in  France  are  eoinetimcs  called  th6  bicute$ 


38  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva 


Tij*"  passengers  take  their  plRCt«  in  tbe  diligence. 


"  When  I  liad  bought  niv  orange?  I  climbed  up 
Into  my  place  again. 

"  There  were  several  people  beginning  to  corae 
gr.d  stand  about  the  door  of  the  bureau.  1  sup- 
pose they  were  the  travellers.  Some  cauic  in 
cabs,  with  their  trunks  on  before  with  the  postil- 
ion. 1  counted  up  how  many  the  diligence  would 
hohl,  and  found  that  in  all.  including  the  two 
postilion's  seats,  and  the  conductor's,  that  there 
were  places  for  twenty-one.  But  when  we  started 
we  had  twenty-four  in  all.  Where  the  other  three 
sat  you  will  see  by  and  by."^ 

"  As  fast  as  the  passengers  came  to  the  office, 
the  men  took  their  baggage  and  ])acked  it  with 
the  rest,  on  the  top  of  the  diligence,  and  the  pas- 
sengers themselves  stood  about  the  door,  waiting 
for  the  horses  to  be  put  in. 

"Some  of  the  jiassengcrs  came  on  foot,  with 
commissioners  to  bring  their  baggage.  The  com- 
missioners carried  their  baggage  on  their  backs. 
Thev  had  a  frame  something  like  an  old-fashioned 
kitchen  chair  straj)ped  to  their  shoulders,  and  the 
baggage  was  piled  upon  this  very  high.  One 
liommissioner  that  came  had  on  his  frame,  first 


•  The  diligence  is  very  lurge.  It  has  four  separate  compart^ 
msnts.  For  a  more  full  account  of  the  construction  of  the  Tchi- 
cle,  and  for  one  or  two  engravings  representing  it.  see  Rollo's  Tour 
in  (^witrerland- 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  39 


Tolio's  SHitial  to  his  motlipr. 


I'iii-  black  ti-unk,  placed  endwise,  and  llien  a  port* 
niantcau,  then  a  carpet  bag,  and  <»n  tlic  lop  a 
biindbox.  Tlie  bandl)Ox  readied  far  above  liig 
head.  I  sbonld  not  tliink  they  could  possibly 
carry  such  lieavy  loads. 

"  Presently  1  saw  father  and  mother  coming  in 
a  cab.  So  I  climbed  down  to  meet  them.  The 
men  in  the  blouses  took  their  trunk  and  carried 
it  up  the  ladder,  and  then  I  opened  the  coupe 
door  for  them,  and  let  them  get  in.  I  told  mother 
til  at  my  place  was  exactly  over  her  head,  and  that 
1  was  then  going  to  climb  up  to  it,  and  that  when 
I  was  there  I  would  knock  on  the  floor,  and  she 
would  know  that  I  had  got  there  safely  ;  and 
1  did. 

"  By  and  by  they  got  all  the  baggage  packed, 
and  they  pulled  the  great  leather  covering  over 
it,  and  fastened  it  to  the  back  of  the  bellows-top. 
TJhen  I  could  push  up  the  curtain  behind  me  and 
look  in  at  the  place  where  the  baggaje  was 
fitowed.  It  looked  like  a  garret.  It  was  not 
cuite  full.  There  was  I'oom  for  several  more 
t  ninks  at  the  forward  end  of  it. 

"  Pretty  soon  after  this  tliey  brought  round  the 
HDrses  and  harnessed  them  in.  Tlien  the  clerk 
came  out  of  the  bureau  and  called  off  the  namoa 
of  the  passengers  from  his  list.  First  he  called 
the  names  of  those  who  were  to  go  in  the  coupe. 
He  said,  in  a  loud  voice.  — 


4{}  R  0  LI.  0    IN    Geneva. 

Calling  the  mil.  The  three  /ijm.-^(.-ii}rprs  that  s;it  on  ttip  trunks. 


"  '  Monsieur  Holiday  and  Madame  Holiday  !  ^ 

"  And  lie  looked  in  at  the  coupe  door,  and  fallic 
Buid,  '  Here.' 

"Then  he  called  out,— 

"'  Madame  Tournaj  ! ' 

"  That  was  the  name  of  the  lady  that  had 
changed  places  with  me.  So  she  got  into  the 
coupe.     That  made  the  coupe  full. 

"  In  the  same  manner  the  clerk  called  off  the 
names  of  those  who  were  to  go  in  the  interior, 
wliich  is  the  centre  compartment.  The  interior 
holds  six. 

"  Then  he  called  off  tlie  names  of  those  that 
wore  to  go  in  the  '  rotoude,'  which  is  the  back 
coin|)artment.  You  get  into  the  rotonde  by  a 
door  behind,  like  the  door  of  an  omnibus. 

"  Then  the  clerk  called  out  the  names  of  the 
peuple  that  were  to  come  up  to  the  banquette 
with  me.  There  were  six  of  them,  and  there 
Bcemed  to  be  only  room  for  three.  So  I  could 
not  imagine  where  they  were  all  going  to  sit. 
They  came  in  a  row,  one  behind  the  other,  up  the 
ladder.  Ycvy  soon  I  saw  how  tiicy  were  goinji 
in  sit ;  for  the  three  that  came  first  —  a  man  an  I 
woman  and  a  girl  —  when  they  came  into  the 
banquette,  pushed  up  the  curtain  at  the  back  side 
of  it,  and  so  climbed  in  l»eliind  to  the  gai-ret, 
aud  sat  on  the  trunks.     When  the  curtain  wafi 


The    Ride    to     (}  e  n  e  v  a  .  41 

Postilion  ilriving.  Tlie  coiiJiKtor  cli!iil:iiig  into  liis  seat. 


down,  after  they  were  in,  Ihey  were  all  in  the 
dark  iliere. 

"  However,  pretty  soon  tliey  contrived  to  fasten 
up  the  curtain,  and  then  they  could  see  out  a  liltlo 
over  our  shoulders.  The  girl  sat  directly  beliind 
inc.  I  asked  her  if  she  could  see,  and  she  said 
elie  could,,  very  well. 

'•The  postilion  then  climbed  up,  with  the  reins 
in  his  hand,  and  called  out  to  the  horses  to  start 
on.  He  talked  to  his  horses  in  Fi'cnch,  and  they 
seemed  to  understand  him  very  well.  The  great 
thing,  though,  was  cracking  his  whip.  You  can 
scarcely  conceive  how  fast  and  loud  he  cracked 
his  whip,  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  otlier, 
till  the  wdiole  court  rang  again.  The  horses 
sprang  forward  and  trotted  oft'  at  great  speed 
out  of  the  place,  and  wheeled  round  the  corner 
to  the  quay  ;  and  v/hile  they  were  going,  the  con- 
ductor came  climbing  up  the  side  of  the  coach  to 
his  })lace. 

"  The  conductor  never  gets  into  his  place  before 
the  diligence  starts.  He  waits  till  the  horses  set 
out.  and  then  jumps  on  to  the  step,  and  so  climbs 
up  the  side  while  the  horses  are  going. 

"A  diligence  is  a  monstrous  great  macliine, 
and  when  it  sets  out  on  a  journey  in  a  city,  tho 
rumbling  of  the  wheels  on  the  pavement,  and  the 
clatteriuiJ:  o*  the  horses'  feet,  and   the  coLtinuaJ 


42  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva 


Hollo's  account  of  the  diligence.  Crossing  the  River  Rhoiie. 

cracking  of  the  coachman's  whip,  and  the  echoes 
of  all  these  sounds  on  the  walls  of  the  buildings, 
make  a  wonderful  noise  and  din,  and  every  body, 
wlicn  the  diligence  is  coming,  liurries  to  get  out 
of  the  way.  Indeed,  I  believe  the  coachmon 
likes  to  make  all  the  noise  he  can  ;  for  lie  lias 
sleigli  bells  on  the  harness,  and,  besides  cracking 
his  whip,  he  keeps  continually  shouting  out  to  the 
horses  and  the  teamsters  on  the  road  before  him  ; 
and  whenever  he  is  passing  through  a  town  or  a 
village  he  does  all  this  more  than  any  where  else, 
because,  as  I  suppose,  there  are  more  people  there 
to  hear  him. 

"  Presently,  after  driving  along  the  quay  a  lit- 
tle way,  we  turned  off  to  one  of  the  great  stone 
bridges  that  lead  across  the  Rhone.  We  went 
over  this  bridge  in  splendid  style.  1  could  see 
far  up  and  down  the  river,  and  trains  of  wagons 
and  multitudes  of  people  going  and  coming  on 
the  other  bridges.  The  water  in  the  river  was 
running  very  swift.  There  were  some  boats  along 
the  shore,  but  1  don't  see  how  the  people  could 
dare  to  venture  out  in  them  in  such  a  current. 

"  As  soon  as  we  had  got  over  the  bridge,  we 
itruck  into  a  beautiful  road  across  the  country, 
aud  the  postilion  cracked  on  faster  and  harder 
than  ever.  Wc  had  five  horses,  three  abreatt 
before,  ana   luu   behind.     They  went   upon  tlio 


The    Kidk    to    Gkneva.  4S 

Thf  postilion's  wlii[).  Tlie  roriJ.  Fretuli  vill;i<:ea. 

gallop,  and  tlie  postilion  kept  cracking  his  whip 
a) tout  them  and  over  their  ears  all  the  time.  I 
tliought  for  a  while  that  he  was  whipping  them  ; 
but  when  I  leaned  forward,  so  that  I  could  look 
down  and  see,  I  found  that  he  did  not  touch  them 
with  his  whip  at  all,  but  only  cracked  the  snap- 
per about  them,  and  shouted  at  them  in  French, 
to  make  them  go.  The  road  was  as  hard  and 
smooth  as  a  floor,  and  it  was  almost  as  white  as  a 
floor  of  marble. 

"The  country  was  very  beautiful  as  long  as 
we  could  see.  There  were  no  fences,  but  there 
were  beautiful  fields  on  each  side  of  the  road, 
divided  into  squares,  like  the  beds  of  a  garden, 
with  all  sorts  of  things  growing  in  them. 

"  Every  now  and  then  we  came  to  a  village. 
These  villages  were  the  queerest  looking  place? 
that  you  can  imagine.  They  were  formed  of 
rows  of  stone  houses,  close  to  each  other  and 
close  to  the  street.  They  were  so  close  to  the 
street,  and  the  street  was  usually  so  narrow,  that 
there  was  scarcely  room  sometimes  to  pass  through. 
I  could  almost  shake  hands  with  the  people  look- 
insr  out  the  second  storv  windows.  I  cannot 
imagine  why  they  should  leave  the  passage  so 
narrow  between  the  houses  on  such  a  great  road. 
If  there  were  any  people  in  the  street  of  the  vil- 
lage when  we  went  through,  they  had  to  back  up 


44  RoLLo    IN    Geneva. 

When  Jt  grew  dark  ihe  conductor  lighted  the  lanterns. 

against  the  wall  when  we  passed  them,  to  prevent 
being  knocked  down. 

"  When  we  were  going  through  any  of  these 
villages,  the  postilion  drove  faster  than  ever, 
lie  would  crack  his  whip,  and  cheer  on  his  horses, 
and  make  noise  and  uproar  enough  to  frighteu 
half  the  town. 

*'  We  went  on  in  this  way  till  it  began  to  grow 
dark.  The  postilion  handed  the  lanterns  up  to 
the  conductor,  and  he  lighted  them  with  some 
matches  that  he  carried  in  his  pocket.  The  Ian 
terns  had  reflectors  in  the  back  of  them,  and  were 
very  bright.  When  the  postilion  put  them  i)ack 
in  their  places  on  the  front  of  the  coach,  the  liirht 
shone  down  on  the  road  before  us,  so  that  the 
way  where  the  horses  were  going  was  as  bright 
as  day. 

"  After  a  time  the  moon  rose,  and  tliat  made  it 
pretty  bright  every  where.  Still  1  could  not  see 
very  far.  and  as  the  peoi)le  around  nie  were  talk- 
ing, I  listened  to  what  they  were  saying.  The 
conductor  was  telling  stories  about  diligences 
that  had  been  robbed.  He  said  that  once,  wheu 
he  was  travelling  somewhere,  the  diligence  was 
attacked  by  robbers,  and  he  was  shot  by  one  of 
them.  He  was  shot  in  the  neck  ;  and  he  had  !o 
keep  in  his  bed  six  months  before  he  got  well.  1 
listened  a-  well  as  I  cuuld.  but  the  diligence  mad*' 


'^''"--r-   GOING  THROUOU  THE  VILLAGB. 


The    Ride    to    Geneva.  47 

The  8tv)ry  of  the  conductor  about  the  robbers.  Changing  horsee. 

such  a  noise  that  1  could  not  understand  all  lio 
said,  and  I  did  not  hear  irhere  it  was  that  tliin 
happened.  I  suppose  it  was  probably  in  Italy, 
for  I  have  heard  that  there  were  a  great  many 
robbers  there. 

**  After  a  while  I  began  to  feel  sleepy.  I  don't 
reraember  going  to  sleep,  for  the  first  thing  I 
knew  after  I  began  to  feel  sleepy  was  that  I  was 
waking  up.  We  were  stopping  to  change  horses. 
We  stopped  to  change  horses  very  often  —  oftener 
than  once  an  hour.  When  we  changed  horses  we 
always  changed  the  postilion  too.  A  new  postil- 
ion always  came  with  every  new  team.  It  was 
only  the  conductor  that  we  did  not  change.  He 
went  with  us  all  the  way. 

"  We  changed  horses  usually  in  a  village  ;  and 
it  was  very  cui'ious  to  see  what  queer-looking 
hostlers  and  stable  boys  came  out  with  the  new 
teams.  Generally  the  hostlers  were  all  ready, 
waiting  for  the  diligence  to  come  ;  but  sometimes 
they  would  be  all  asleep,  and  the  conductor  and 
the  postilion  would  make  a  great  shouting  and 
uproar  in  waking  them  up. 

"  When  the  new  team  was  harnessed  in,  the 
new  postilion  would  climb  up  to  his  seat,  with 
the  reins  in  his  hands,  and,  without  waiting  a 
moment,  he  would  start  the  horses  on  at  full 
speed,  leaving  the  poor  conductor  to  get  on  thr 


48  R  o  L  L  0    IX    Geneva. 

Sometimes  the  diligf^nce  li.ij  four  horses,  sometimes  six  or  seven. 

best  way  he  could.  By  tlie  time  the  liorscs  began 
to  go  on  the  gallop,  the  conductor  would  come 
climbing  up  the  side  of  the  coach  into  his  place. 

"It  was  curious  to  see  ho\v  different  the  dif- 
ferent teams  were  in  regard  to  the  number  of 
horses.  Sometimes  we  had  four  horses,  some- 
times five,  and  once  we  had  seven.  For  a  long 
time  I  could  not  tell  what  the  reason  was  for 
such  a  difference.  But  at  last  I  found  out. 
It  was  because  some  of  the  stages  were  pretty 
nearly  level,  and  others  were  almost  all  up  hill. 
Of  course,  where  there  was  a  great  deal  of  uy 
hill  they  required  more  horse.^?.  At  the  time 
when  they  put  on  seven  horses  I  knew  that  we 
had  come  to  a  place  where  it  was  almost  all  up 
hill ;  and  it  was.  The  road  went  winding  around 
through  a  region  of  hills  and  valleys,  but  a.^^cend- 
ing  all  the  time.  Still  the  road  was  so  hard  and 
smooth,  and  the  horses  were  so  full  of  life,  that 
we  went  on  the  full  trot  the  whole  way.  Four 
horses  could  not  have  done  this,  though,  with 
such  a  heavy  load.     It  took  seven. 

'*  In  almost  all  the  villages  we  came  to  we  saw 
long  lines  of  wagons  by  the  road  side.  They 
were  very  curious  wagons  indeed.  They  were 
small.  Each  one  was  to  be  drawn  by  one  horse. 
There  was  no  body  to  them,  but  only  two  long 
poles  going  from   the  forward  axletree   to   ^hv 


The    Ride    to    G  e  x  e  v  a  .  49 


The  trains  of  wn,a;nns.  Oue  tcam-itoi-  to  six  teams 

back  axictrcc  ;  and  the  load  was  packed  on  these 
poles,  and  covered  with  canvas.  It  looked  just 
like  a  big  bundle  tied  up  in  a  cloth.  These  were 
wagons  tliat  had  stopped  for  the  night.  After- 
wards, wlien  tlie  morning  carae,  we  overtook  a 
great  many  trains  of  these  wagons,  on  the  road 
to  Geneva.  They  were  loaded  with  merchandise 
going  from  France  into  Switzerland.  There  was 
only  one  driver  to  the  whole  train.  He  went 
along  with  the  front  wagon,  and  all  the  rest  fol- 
lowed on  in  a  line.  The  horses  were  trained  to 
follow  in  tins  way.  Thus  one  man  could  take 
charge  of  a  train  of  six  or  eight  wagons. 

'  There  was  one  very  curious  thing  in  tho 
arrangement,  and  that  was,  that  the  last  horse  in 
tlie  train  had  a  bell  on  his  neck,  something  like  a 
cow  bell.  This  was  to  prevent  the  driver  from 
having  to  look  round  continually  to  see  whether 
the  rest  of  the  horses  were  coming  or  not.  As 
long  as  he  could  hear  the  bell  on  the  last  one's 
neck  he  knew  they  were  all  coming  ;  for  none  of 
the  middle  ones  could  stop  without  stopping  all 
behind  tnem. 

"  I  suppose  that  sometimes  some  of  the  horses 
in  the  train  would  stop  ;  then  the  driver  would 
observe  that  the  bell  ceased  to  ring,  and  he  would 
etop  his  own  wagon,  and  go  back  to  see  what  was 
the  matter.  If  he  found  that  any  of  them  stopped 
4 


So  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 

The  nne  of  the  ]>eil  ou  thir  hor»e.  Iluilo's  cxpedienl. 

to  cat  grass  by  the  way,  or  because  tliev  -vYcre 
la;:y,  lie  would  give  them  a  whipping,  and  start 
them  on,  and  that  would  teach  tliem  to  kcc)) 
marching  on  tlic  next  time. 

"  I  know  what  I  would  do  if  I  were  the  last 
horse.  Whenever  I  Avantcd  to  stop  and  rest  I 
would  keep  shaking  my  head  all  the  time,  and 
that  would  make  the  driver  think  that  I  was  com- 
ing along. 

"  One  time,  when  we  were  stopping  to  change 
horses,  I  heard  some  one  below  me  calling  to  me, 

"  '  Rollo  ! ' 

"  1  ))elieve  I  was  asleep  at  that  time,  and  dream- 
ing about  something,  though  I  don't  remember 
what  it  was.  I  started  up  and  reached  out  aa 
far  as  I  could  over  the  boot,  and  looked  down. 
I  found  it  was  my  mother  calling  to  me. 

"  '  Rollo,'  says  she,  '  how  do  you  get  along?' 

"'Very  nicely  indeed,  mother,'  says  1;  'and 
how  do  you  get  along  ?  ' 

" '  Very  well,'  says  she. 

*' Just  then  I  happened  to  think  of  my  oranges; 
BO  1  asked  motlier  if  she  was  not  thirsty,  and  sho 
said  she  was  a  little  thirsty,  but  she  did  not  see 
how  she  could  get  any  drink  until  the  morning, 
for  the  houses  were  all  shut  up,  and  tlic  i)eoplo 
were  in  bed  and  asleep.  So  I  told  her  that  I 
hud  an  orange  for  her  and  for  father.  She  said 
«he  was  very  glad  indeed. 


The    Ride   to    Geneva.  51 


I'ollo  lowers  an  orange  iuto  the  coup*  for  his  mother. 


"  I  coul<l  not  get  down  very  well  to  give  the 
oranges  tc  her,  so  1  put  tlicm  in  my  little  knap- 
sack, and  let  tlicm  down  by  a  string.  I  had  the 
piling  in  my  pocket. 

"  Motlici-  took  tlic  oranges  out  of  the  knapsack, 
and  then  I  pulled  it  up  again.  I  told  her  that  I 
had  plenty  more  for  myself. 

"  Father  cut  a  hole  in  one  of  the  oranges  tha^( 
I  sent  down  to  mother,  and  then  she  squeezed 
tlic  juice  of  it  out  into  her  mouth.  She  said 
afterwards  that  I  could  not  conceive  how 
much  it  refreshed  her.  I  don't  think  she  could 
conceive  how  glad  I  was  that  I  had  bought  it 
for  her. 

"  A  little  while  after  sunrise  we  came  to  a  vil- 
lage where  we  were  going  to  change  horses,  and 
the  conductor  said  that  we  should  stop  long 
enough  to  go  into  tlie  inn  if  we  pleased,  and  gei 
Boine  coffee.  So  father  and  mother  got  out  of 
the  cou})e,  and  went  in.  I  climbed  down  from 
my  place,  and  went  with  them.  Mother  said  she 
went  in  more  to  sec  what  soi't  of  a  place  the  inn 
Wcis  than  for  the  sake  of  the  coffee. 

"  It  was  a  very  funny  place.  The  floor  was  of 
gtone.  There  was  one  table,  with  cups  on  it  for 
(offce,  and  j)lates,  and  bread  and  butter.  Tlie 
loaves  of  bread  were  shaped  like  a  man's  arm  — 
about  as  big  round,  and  a  good  deal  longer,   Thff 


52  RoLLO    IX    Geneva. 

After  breakfast  the  travellers  start  again. 

coffee  was  very  good  indeed,  on  account  of  tlier«j 
licing  plenty  of  liot  milk  to  put  into  it. 

"  Alter  we  had  had  our  breakfast  we  went  on. 
and  tlie  rest  of  our  ride  was  through  a  most  mag- 
nilicent  country.  There  was  a  long,  winding 
valley,  with  beautiful  hills  and  mountains  on  each 
side,  and  a  deep  chasm  in  the  middle,  with  the 
River  Rhone  roaring  and  tumbling  over  the 
Btones  down  at  tlie  bottom  of  it.  The  road  went 
wheeling  on  down  long  slo])es,  and  around  the 
liills  and  promontories,  with  beautiful  green  swells 
of  land  above  it  and  below  it.  Tiie  horses  went 
upon  the  run.  Tlie  postilion  had  a  little  liandle 
close  by  his  seat — a  sort  of  crank  —  that  he 
could  turn  round  and  round,  and  so  bring  a 
brake  to  bear  against  the  wheels,  and  thus  help 
to  hold  the  carriage  back.  When  he  began  to  go 
down  a  sloj)e  he  would  turn  this  crank  round  and 
round  as  fast  as  he  could,  till  it  was  screwed  up 
light,  cheering  the  horses  on  all  the  time;  and 
then  he  would  take  his  whip  and  crack  it  about 
their  ears,  ajid  so  we  go  down  the  hills,  and  wheel 
round  the  great  curves,  almost  on  the  run,  and 
c(juld  look  down  on  the  ticlds  and  meadows  and 
houses  in  the  valley,  a  thousand  feet  below  us. 
It  was  the  grandest  ride  I  ever  had. 

"  lUit  1  have  been  so  long  writing  this  letter 
that  I  am  beginning  to  be  tired  of  it,  thougli  ] 


The    Ride  to    Geneva.  53 

A  postscript.  The  fortifications  upon  the  road. 

Lave  not  got  yet  to  Geneva  ;  so  I  am  going  to 
stop  now.  The  rest  I  will  tell  you  when  I  see 
you.  Your  affectionate  cousin, 

"  ROLLO.^' 


"  P.  S.  There  is  one  thing  more  that  I  will 
tell  you,  and  that  is,  that  we  went  through  a 
castle  at  one  place  in  the  valley.  It  was  a  castle 
built  by  the  French  to  guard  their  frontier.  In- 
deed, tliere  were  two  castles.  The  road  passes 
directly  through  one  of  them,  and  the  other  is 
high  up  on  the  rocks  exactly  above  it.  The  val- 
ley is  so  narrow,  and  the  banks  are  so  steep,  that 
there  is  no  other  possible  place  for  the  road  ex- 
cept through  the  lower  castle.  The  road  has  to 
twist  and  twine  about,  too,  just  before  it  comes 
to  the  castle  gates,  and  after  it  goes  away  from 
them  on  the  other  side,  so  that  every  thing  that 
passes  along  has  some  guns  or  other  pointing  at 
them  from  the  castle  for  more  than  a  mile.  I 
don't  see  how  any  e-nemy  could  possibly  get  into 
France  this  way. 

"  There  was  also  a  place  where  the  Rhone  goca 
under  ground,  or,  rather,  under  the  rocks,  and  so 
lose^  itself  for  a  time,  and  then  after  a  while 
comes  out  again.  It  is  a  place  where  the  river 
runs  along  in  the  bottom  of  a  very  deep  and 
rocky   chasm,  and   the  rocks  have  fallen  down 


54 


R  O  I.  L  o     r  X     G  F  N  E  V  A 


Tho  i-Ik.".-  where  the  l;iv«r  Khuno  ditatj.iK'Hrs. 

from  above,  so  as  to  fill  up  the  cliasiii  from  one 
side  to  tlie  other,  and  all  the  water  gets  through 
underneath  them.  We  looked  down  into  tho 
chasm  as  the  diligence  went  by,  and  saw  the 
water  tumbling  over  the  rocks  just  above  the 
place  where  it  goes  down.  I  should  have  liked 
to  stop,  and  to  climb  down  there  and  sec  the 
place,  );ut  I  knew  that  the  diligence  would  not 
wait." 


T  IT  F    Town. 


Tho  pass  thiough  the  mountains. 


Chapter    IV. 
T  H  E    T  0  w  N  . 

The  valley  described  by  Rollo  in  his  letter  to 
Lucy,  contained  in  the  last  chapter,  is  indeed  a 
very  remarkable  pass.  The  Romans  travelled  it 
nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  in  going  from 
Italy  to  France,  or,  as  they  called  it,  Gaul.  Cae- 
sar describes  the  country  in  his  Commentaries ; 
and  from  that  day  to  this  it  has  been  cne  of  the 
greatest  thoroughfares  of  Europe. 

The  valley  is  very  tortuous,  and  in  some  places 
it  is  very  narrow  ;  and  the  road  runs  along 
through  it  like  a  white  thread,  suspended,  as  it 
were,  half  way  between  the  lofty  summits  of  tho 
mountains  and  the  roaring  torrent  of  the  Rhone 
in  the  deep  abyss  below. 

After  emerging  from  this  narrow  paos,  the  road 
comes  out  into  an  open  country,  which  is  as  fer- 
tile and  beautiful,  and  as  richly  adorned  with 
hamlets,  villas,  parks,  gardens,  and  smiling  fields 
of  corn  and  grain,  as  any  country  in  the  world. 
At  loiigth,  on  coming  over  the  summit  of  a  gentle 


56  R  0  L  L  0    I  N     G  E  N  E  V  A  . 


The  Alps  in  view.  Mont  Blanc  all  uncovered. 

swell  of  land,  tliat  rises  in  the  midst  of  this  par 
adisc,  the  great  chain  of  the  Alps,  with  the  snow) 
peak  of  Mont  Blanc  crowning  it  with  its  glitter- 
ing canopy  of  snow,  comes  suddenly  into  view. 

"  Look  there  I  "  said  the  conductor  to  the  com- 
pany on  the  banquette.  "  See  there !  the  Mont 
Blanc,  all  uncovered!" 

The  French  always  call  Mont  Blanc  the  Mont 
Blanc,  and  for  all  clear  and  in  plain  view  they  say 
all  uncovered. 

It  is  calculated  that  there  are  only  about  sixty 
days  in  the  year,  upon  an  average,  when  Mont 
Blanc  af)pears  with  his  head  uncovered.  They, 
therefore,  whose  coming  into  Switzerland  he  hon- 
ors by  taking  off  his  cap,  have  reason  greatly  to 
rejoice  in  their  good  fortune. 

Rollo  had  seen  snow-covered  mountains  shining 
in  the  sun  before  ;  but  he  was  greatly  delighted 
with  this  new  view  of  them.  There  is  indeed 
a  peculiar  charm  in  the  sight  of  these  eternal 
snows,  especially  when  we  see  them  basking,  aa 
it  were,  in  the  rays  of  a  warm  summer's  sun,  that 
!s  wholly  indescriliable.  The  sublime  and  thrill- 
ing grandeur  of  the  spectacle  no  pen  or  pencil 
can  portray. 

After  passing  over  the  hill,  and  descending  into 
the  valley  again,  the  coni})any  in  the  diligence 
came  soon  in  sight  of  the  environs  of  rieneva 


The    Town.  59 


Coming  into  Geneva.  Making  a  sensation.  Tlio  quay. 

Thoy  passed  by  a  great  many  charming  country 
ecats,  with  neat  walls  of  masonry  bordering  tho 
gardens,  and  wide  gateways  opening  into  pretty 
courts,  and  little  green  lawns  surrounding  the 
chateaux.  At  length  the  diligence  came  thunder- 
ing down  a  narrow  paved  street  into  the  town. 
Every  thing  made  haste  to  get  out  of  the  way. 
The  postilion  cracked  his  whip,  and  cheered  on 
his  hoi-ses,  and  shouted  out  to  the  cartmen  and 
footmen  before  him  to  clear  the  way,  and  made 
generally  as  much  noise  and  uproar  as  possible, 
as  if  the  glory  of  a  diligence  consisted  in  the 
noise  it  made,  and  the  sensation  it  produced  in 
coming  into  town. 

At  length  the  immense  vehicle  wheeled  round 
a  corner,  and  came  out  upon  a  broad  and  beauti- 
ful quay.  The  quay  had  a  range  of  very  elegant 
and  palace-like  looking  houses  and  hotels  on  one 
side,  and  the  water  of  the  lake  —  exceedingly 
clear,  and  bright,  and  blue  —  on  the  other.  The 
place  was  at  the  point  where  the  water  of  the 
lake  was  just  beginning  to  draw  in  towards  the 
outlet ;  so  that  there  was  a  pretty  swift  current. 

The  engraving  represents  the  scene.  In  the 
forciiiound  we  see  the  broad  quay,  with  the  build- 
ings on  one  side,  and  the  low  parapet  wall  sepa- 
rating it  from  the  water  on  the  other.  In  the 
middle  distance  we  see  the  diligence  just  ccuning 


60  Vt  0  I  \.  n   T  K   n  E  \'\'.v  k 


The  Is'.aud  pnnHPuade  iti  Ihe  L;ikt'  of  ({meva. 


out  Upon  the  quny  fioni  llic  street  by  wliioh  it 
came  into  tiic  town.  A  little  farther  on  we  sec 
tho  bridge  by  which  the  dilip?nce  will  pass  across 
to  the  other  side  of  the  river — the  diligence 
ofiQces  being  situated  in  the  row  of  buildings  that 
we  see  on  the  farther  side.  This  bridge  is  not 
straight.  There  is  an  angle  in  it  at  the  centre. 
From  the  apex  of  this  angle  there  is  a  branch 
bridge  which  goes  out  to  a  little  island  in  the 
lake.  This  island  is  arranged  as  a  promenade, 
and  is  a  gieat  i>lace  of  resort  for  the  people  of 
Geneva.  There  are  walks  throngh  it  and  all 
around  it,  and  seats  under  the  trees,  and  a  para- 
pet wall  or  railing  encircling  the  margin  of  it,  to 
prevent  children  IVom  falling  into  the  water. 

As  the  diligence  rolled  along  the  quay,  and 
turned  to  go  over  the  bridge,  Rollo  could  look 
out  in  one  diiection  over  the  broad  surface  of 
*lie  lake,  which  was  seen  extending  for  many 
miles,  bordered  by  gently  sloping  shores  coming 
down  to  the  water.  On  the  other  side  the  cur- 
rent was  seen  rapidly  converging  and  flowing 
swiftly  under  another  bridge,  and  thence  directly 
through  the  very  heart  of  the  town. 

The  diligence  went  over  the  bridge.  While  it 
was  going  over,  Hollo  looked  out  first  one  way, 
towards  the  lake,  and  then  the  other  way,  down 
the  )-i\('i-.     Oil  the  lake  side  tlu^io  was  a  ^tear 


T  H  E      T  0  W  N  .  61 


Wli:it  Hollo  obsPivi-<l  I'll  the  hiki-  and  tii-   river. 


boat  coming  in.  She  "was  crowdcn'  witli  pasj^iiv 
ffcrs,  and  the  quay  at  the  other  end  of  the  brid<:o, 
where  tlie  steamer  was  going  to  land,  was  crowd- 
ed \rith  people  waiting  to  see. 

On  the  other  side  of  tlie  bridge,  that  is,  look- 
ing down  the  stream,  Rollo  saw  a  deep  blue  ri^'cr 
'running  more  and  more  swiftly  as  it  grew  nar- 
rower. There  wci-e  several  other  bridges  in 
sight,  and  an  island  also,  which  stood  in  the  mid- 
die  of  the  stream,  juid  \va>  covci-ed  with  tall  ui;d 
ancient-looking  buildings.  'I'heso  buildings  in 
deed  more  than  covei-ed  the  oi-iginni  island  ;  they 
extended  out  over  the  water — the  outer  walls 
seeming  to  rest  on  ))iles,  between  and  around 
which  the  water  flowed  with  the  utmost  impetu* 
osity.  The  banks  of  the  river  on  each  side  were 
walled  up,  and  there  were  streets  or  })latform 
walks  along  the  margin,  between  the  liouscs  and 
the  water.  There  were  a  great  many  bridges, 
some  wide  and  some  narrow,  leading  across  from 
one  bank  to  the  other,  and  from  tach  bank  to  tliQ 
island  between. 

The  diligence  passed  on  so  rapidly  that  Rollo 
had  very  little  opportunity  to  see  these  things ; 
but  he  resolved  that  as  soon  as  they  got  estab* 
lished  in  the  hotel  he  would  come  out  and  take  a 
walk,  and  explore  all  those  bridges. 

'Mt  is  just  such  a  town  as  i  like/'  said  he  lo 


R  0  L  L  0     IN     G  E  N  E  V 


^'hy  Rollu  liked  Geneva.  Disembarkinj:  tVnni  thi-  ilili^'enro. 

himself.  "  A  swift  river  ruiiniDg  tlirougli  tho 
niicldle  of  it  —  water  as  clear  as  a  bell  —  plenty 
of  foot  bridges  down  very  near  to  the  water,  aim 
ever  so  many  little  platforms  and  sidewalks  along 
tlic  margin,  where  you  can  stand  and  fish  over 
the  railings." 

In  the  mean  time  the  diligence  went  thunder- 
ing on  over  the  bridge,  and  then  drove  along  tlie 
quay,  on  the  farther  side,  past  one  office  after 
another,  until  it  came  to  its  own.  Here  the 
horses  were  reined  in,  and  the  great  machine 
came  to  a  stand.  Tlie  doors  of  the  lower  com- 
partments were  opened,  and  the  passengers  began 
to  get  out.  Two  ladders  were  placed  against 
the  side,  one  for  the  passengers  on  the  bantiuette 
to  get  down  Ijy,  and  the  other  to  ena))le  the 
blouses  tliat  stood  waiting  there  to  uncover  and 
get  down  the  baggage.  Rollo  did  mit  wait  for 
his  turn  at  the  hukler,  but  climbed  down  the  side 
of  the  coach  by  meang  of  any  projecting  iroL  or 
steps  tljat  he  couhl  find  to  cling  to. 

"Now,  Kollo."  said  Mr.  Holiday,  ''the  hotel  in 
pretty  near,  and  we  arc  going  to  walk  there.  1 
am  going  to  leave  you  here  to  select  out  our  bag- 
gage, when  they  get  it  down,  and  to  bring  it 
along  by  means  of  a  porter." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  ''  I  shouH  like  to  do 
that,    But  what  hotel  i»  it  ? " 


The   Town. 


(53 


Tho  travellers  go  to  the  hotel. 


''  The  Hotel  de  FEcii,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

So  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  walked  along  tut 
pier  to  the  hotel,  leaving  Rollo  to  engage  a  por- 
ter and  to  follow  in  due  time. 

The  porter  carried  the  baggage  on  his  hack,  by 
means  of  a  frame,  such  as  has  been  already  de- 
scribed. Rollo  followed  him,  and  thus  he  arrived 
at  last  safely  at  the  hotel. 


64  R  0  L  L  o    IX    Geneva. 


The  Swiss  hotels  are  plan  tied  for  the  use  of  pleasnre  p.\rtlM. 


c  h after  v. 
The    Hotel. 

OxE  of  the  greatest  sources  of  interest  and 
pleasure  for  travellers  who  visit  Switzerland  anr] 
the  Alps  for  the  first  time,  esi)ecially  if  they  are 
travellers  from  America,  is  the  novelty  of  the 
arrangements  ami  usages  of  the  hotels. 

One  reason  why  every  thing  is  so  different  in  a 
Swiss  hotel  from  what  we  witness  in  America  is, 
that  all  tlic  anangements  are  made  to  accommo- 
date parties  travelling  for  pleasure.  Every  thing 
is  planned,  therefore,  with  a  view  of  making  tlie 
hotel  as  attractive  and  agreeahlo  to  the  guests  a3 
possible. 

The  Hotel  de  I'Ecu,  where  our  party  have  now 
anived,  is  very  pleasantly  situated  on  the  quay 
facin<jr  the  lake.  It  stands  near  the  further  end 
of  the  bridge,  as  seen  in  the  engraving  on  page 
5S.  It  is  the  building  where  you  sec  ihe  hag 
Hying. 

Indeed,  all  the  principal  hotels  in  Geneva  are 
situated  on  the  quay.     Quite  a  number  of  tho 


T  ri  .^    H  0  T  E  L .  65 

The  beautiful  pnjspuets.  Gar  Jens,  tenaces,  and  oS»serTatorlo.i.    " 

large  and  handsome  edifices  which  you  see  in  the 
engraving,  on  both  sides  the  watei-,  are  liotels. 
The  hotel  keepers  know  very  well  that  most  of 
the  travellers  that  come  to  Switzerland  come  not 
on  business,  but  to  see  the  lakes,  and  mountains, 
and  other  grand  scenery  of  their  country.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  almost  every  place,  the  situation 
chosen  for  the  hotels  is  the  one  which  commands 
the  prettiest  views. 

Then,  in  arranging  tlie  i)iterior  of  the  house, 
they  always  place  the  public  apartments,  such  as 
tiie  breakfast  and  dining  rooms,  and  the  reading 
room,  in  the  pleasantest  part  of  it ;  and  they  have 
large  windows  opening  down  to  the  floor,  and 
pretty  little  tables  in  the  recesses  of  them,  so  that 
while  you  are  eating  your  breakfast  or  reading 
the  newspapers  you  have  only  to  raise  your  eyes 
and  look  :)ut  upon  the  most  charming  prospects 
that  the  town  affords. 

Then,  besides  this,  they  have  gardens,  and  sum- 
mer houses,  and  raised  terraces,  overlooking  roads, 
or  rivers,  or  beautiful  valleys,  and  little  observa- 
tories, and  many  other  such  contrivances  to  add  to 
the  charms  of  the  hotel,  and  make  the  traveller's 
residence  in  it  more  agreeable. 

They  hope  in  this  way  to  induce  the  traveller 
to  prolong  his  stay  at  their  house.  And  it  has 
the  intended  effect.   Indeed,  at  almost  every  hotel 


66  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

WliJit  tlie  travellers  eay  when  they  arrive  at  a  new  place. 

where  a  party  of  travellers  arrive,  in  a  new  town, 
their  first  feeling  almost  always  is,  that  they  shall 
wish  to  remain  there  a  week. 

What  a  pleasant  place !  they  say  to  each  otiier  ; 
and  what  a  beautiful  room  !  Look  at  the  moun- 
tains! Look  at  the  torrent  pouring  through  the 
valley!  What  a  pretty  garden !  And  this  ter- 
race, where  we  may  sit  in  the  evening,  and  have 
our  tea,  and  watch  the  people  across  the  valley, 
going  up  and  down  the  mountain  paths.  I  should 
like  to  stay  here  all  summer. 

Tlien  the  next  j)lace  where  they  stop  may  be 
on  a  lake  ;  and  tliere,  when  tliey  go  to  the  win- 
dow of  their  rooms,  or  of  the  breakfast  room, 
they  look  out  and  say, — 

All!  see  what  a  beautiful  view  of  the  lake! 
How  blue  the  water  is!  Sec  the  sail  boats  and 
the  row  boats  going  to  and  fro.  And  down  the 
lake,  as  far  as  1  can  see,  there  is  a  steamer  com- 
ing. I  see  the  smoke.  And  beyond,  what  a 
raagniliccnt  range  of  mountains,  the  tops  all  cov- 
ered \\  itli  glaciers  and  snow  ! 

When  Hollo  entered  the  hotel  at  Geneva,  he 
found  himself  ushered  first  into  a  large,  open 
apartment,  which  occupied  the  whole  centre  of 
the  building,  and  extended  up  through  all  the 
stories,  and  was  covered  with  a  gla.-s  roof  alxive. 
There  were  gallenes  all  aruuud  this  a}»ailmej;t, 


TheHotbl.  67 


A  description  of  the  Hotel  de  I'Ecn. 


in  the  different  stories.  Doors  from  these  gal 
leries,  on  the  back  sides  of  them,  led  to  the  vari 
oils  rooms,  while  on  the  front  sides  were  railings, 
where  you  could  stand  and  look  down  to  the  floor 
below,  and  see  the  travellers  coming  and  going. 

At  one  end  of  this  hall  was  a  winding  stair- 
case, with  broad  and  easy  stone  steps.  Thia 
staircase  ascended  from  story  to  story,  and  com- 
municated by  proper  landings  with  the  galleries 
of  the  several  floors. 

This  hall,  though  it  was  thus  very  puonc  in  its 
character,  was  very  prettily  arranged.  The  gal- 
leries which  opened  upon  it  on  the  different  stories 
were  adorned  with  balconies,  and  the  walls  of  it 
were  hung  w^ith  maps  and  pictures  of  Alpine  sce- 
nery, pretty  engravings  of  hotels  standing  in  pic- 
turesque spots  on  the  margins  of  lakes,  or  on  the 
banks  of  running  streams,  or  hidden  away  in 
some  shady  glen,  in  the  midst  of  stupendous 
mountains.  Then,  besides  these  pictures,  the  hall 
was  adorned  with  statues,  and  vases  of  flowers  ; 
and  there  was  a  neat  little  table,  with  writing 
materials  and  the  visitor's  book  upon  it,  and  vari- 
ous other  fixtures  and  contrivances  to  give  the 
place  an  agreeable  and  home-like  air. 

As  Rollo  came  into  the  hall,  accompanied  by 
the  porter,  a  clerk  came  out  to  meet  him  from  a 
UUh  office  on  QUQ  side,  and  told  Um  ihu  hij" 


68  R  0  L  L  0     IN      G  E  N  E  T  A  . 

The  i)r.jspect  from  Jlrs.  lloliday's  irindow. 

father  and  motlicr  were  in  tlieir  room  ;  and  \it 
sent  a  messenger  to  show  Kollo  and  tlie  poiter 
the  way  to  it. 

Eollo  accordingly  followed  the  messenger  and 
ihe  porter  up  stairs,  and  was  ushered  into  a  very 
pleasant  room  on  the  second  story,  looking  oux 
upon  the  lake  and  the  river.  Hollo  went  imme- 
diately to  the  window.  IJis  mother  was  sitting 
at  the  window  when  he  entered  the  room. 

"This  is  a  pretty  window,  Kollo,"  said  she; 
"  come  and  look  out. 

'•  See  how  many  bridges  !  "  said  she,  when  Rullo 
had  come  to  her  side. 

"  And  how  swift  the  water  runs  under  them  !  " 
said  Rollo. 

"  There  are  some  boys  fishing,"  said  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday. 

*'  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  should  think  there 
would  be  plenty  of  truuL  in  such  a  river  as  this, 
it  runs  so  swift  and  is  so  clear.  This  is  just  such 
a  place  as  I  like.  See  that  big  water  wheel, 
mother." 

So  saying,  Hollo  pointed  to  a  large  mill  wheel 
which  was  slowly  revolving  by  the  side  of  a 
building  that  })rojected  out  over  the  water,  on  tlie 
island. 

The  inland  where  RoHo  saw  the  wheel  was  not 
the  one  seen  in  the  cu^jruviu^  in  page  58,    That 


TheHotel.  60 


The  ihlel  and  the  island.  Tho  mill  stream.  B^eal^fe8t. 


is  called  the  islet,  and  it  stands  in  the  lake,  entirely 
on  the  outer  side  of  the  first  bridge.  The  island, 
on  the  other  hand,  stands  in  the  rapid  current  oi' 
the  river,  below  the  second  bridge,  and  is  entirely 
covered,  as  has  already  been  said,  with  tall  and 
very  antique  looking  buildings.  The  current  is 
so  rapid  along  the  sides  of  this  island,  and  along 
the  adjacent  shores,  that  it  will  carry  a  mill  any 
where  wherever  they  set  a  wheel. 

"  After  we  have  had  breakfast,"  said  Rollo,  "  I 
mean  to  go  out  and  explore  all  those  bridges,  and 
go  about  all  over  the  island." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  that  will  be  very 
pleasant.  I  should  like  very  much  to  go  with 
you  :  and  I  will,  if  the  sun  does  not  come  out  too 
warm." 

By  this  time  Mr.  Holiday  had  paid  and  dis- 
missed the  porter  ;  and  he  now  turned  to  Rollo, 
and  asked  him  if  he  would  like  to  go  down  and 
order  breakfast.  Roilo  said  that  he  should  like 
to  go  very  much. 

"  Go  down,  then,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  into  the 
dining  room,  and  choose  a  table  there,  near  a 
\)leasant  window,  and  order  breakfast." 

''  What  shall  I  order  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Any  thing  you  please,"  said  Mr.  Holiday ; 
*  vou  know  what  will  make  a  p;ood  breakfast." 

So  Rollo  went  out  of  the  room,  in  order  to  go 


70  R  o  L  L  0   IN    Geneva. 

The  brcakfivsl  room.  lU.JIo's  order 

down  stairs.  Uc  passed  all  around  the  gallery 
of  the  story  he  was  in,  looking  at  the  picturcg 
that  weie  hung  upon  the  walls  as  he  went,  and 
then  desc3nded  the  staircase  to  the  lower  floor. 
Here  he  found  doors  0})ening  into  tlie  dining 
room,  which  extended  along  the  whole  front  of 
the  hotel  towards  the  lake.  The  room  was  large, 
and  was  very  beautifully  furnished.  There  was 
a  long  table  extending  up  and  down  the  middle 
of  it.  On  tlie  back  side  were  sofas,  between  the 
doors.  On  the  front  side  was  a  range  of  win- 
dows looking  out  upon  the  river.  The  windows 
were  large,  and  as  the  walls  of  the  hotel  were 
very  thick,  a  recess  was  formed  for  each,  and  op- 
posite each  recess  was  a  round  table.  These 
tables  were  all  set  for  breakfasts  or  dinners. 

Some  of  these  tables  were  occupied.  Rollo 
chose  the  pleasantest  of  the  ones  that  were  at 
liberty,  and  took  his  seat  by  the  side  of  it.  Pres- 
ently a  very  neatly-dressed  and  plea.-ant-looking 
young  man  came  to  him.  to  ask  what  he  would 
have.  This  was  the  waiter;  and  Rollo  made 
ariangcments  with  him  for  a  breakfast.  llo 
ordered  fried  trout,  veal  cutlets,  fried  potatoes, 
an  omelette,  coflce,  and  bread  and  honey.  His 
father  and  mother,  when  they  came  to  eat  tho 
i)rcakfast,  said  they  were  perfectly  sati^licd  witb 
it  in  every  respect. 


A   Ride    in-   the    Environs.     7i 

Srcursioug.  Hiilii-.g  and  sailing.  A  tnrgaiD. 


Chapteu    VI. 
A   Ride   in   the   Environs. 

One  morning,  a  clay  or  two  after  our  party 
arrived  at  Geneva,  Mr.  Holiday  told  Rollo,  aa 
they  were  sitting  at  their  round  breakfast  table, 
at  one  of  the  windows  looking  out  upon  the  lake, 
that  he  had  planned  a  ride  for  that  day  ;  and  he 
said  that  Rollo,  if  he  wished,  might  go  too. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  only  I  think  I  should 
like  better  to  go  and  take  a  sail." 

"  I  believe  boys  generally  like  to  sail  better 
than  to  ride,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  but  the  places 
that  we  are  going  to  are  where  we  cannot  reach 
them  in  a  boat.  However,  I  will  make  you  an 
offer.  We  are  going  to  ride  in  a  carriage  to-day, 
and  we  should  like  very  much  to  have  you  go 
with  us.  Now,  if  you  will  go  with  us  on  this 
^•ide,  1  will  go  and  take  you  out  on  the  lake  to 
^ail  some  other  day." 

''Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  jovfully.  "But  how 
lar  will  you  take  me  ?  " 

"  As  far  as  you  wish  to  go,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 


72  R  0  L  I.  0     I  N     G  E  N  E  V  A 


Tlirre  dif.Uniruisheti  pt-rsonages  of  Geneva.  The  cnnlapc. 

'^  0.  father  !  "  ?aid  Rollo  ;  "  I  should  wish  to  go 
to  tlic  very  farthest  end  of  tlic  lake." 

''  Well/'  said  his  father,  "  1  will  take  you  there.*" 

It  must  not  at  all  be  supposed  from  this  conver- 
cation  that  Mr.  Holiday  considered  it  necessary 
to  make  a  bargain  with  his  boy,  to  induce  him  to 
go  any  where  or  to  do  any  thing  that  1m}  desired. 
He  put  the  case  in  this  way  to  amuse  Kollo,  and 
to  interest  him  more  in  pi-ojiosed  expeditions. 

"There  arc  three  distinguished  personages, 
said  Mr.  Holiday,  "whose  naujcs  and  liistoiies 
are  intimately  associated  with  Geneva,  because 
they  all  lived  in  Geneva,  or  in  tlio  environs  of  it. 
These  three  persons  arc  Madame  de  Stael,  John 
Calvin,  and  Voltaire.  I  will  tell  you  something 
about  them  on  the  way.  As  soon  as  you  have 
finished  your  l)reakfast  you  may  go  and  engag<*  a 
carriage  for  us.  Get  a  carriage  with  two  horses, 
and  have  it  ready  at  half  past  ten." 

Rollo  was  always  nnich  pleased  with  such  a 
connnission  as  this.  He  engaged  a  very  pn-tty 
carriage,  with  two  elegant  black  horses.  Tlu- 
carriage  had  a  top  which  could  be  put  uj)  or 
lown  at  pleasure.  Rollo  had  it  put  down  ;  for, 
though  it  was  a  pleasant  day,  tlierc  were  clouds 
enough  in  the  sky  to  make  it  pretty  shady. 

There  was  a  front  seat  in  the  carriage,  where 
Rollo  might  sit  if  ho  chose;  but  he  preferred 
riding  outside  with  the  postilion. 


A    Ride    in    ^i'  ii  e    E  n  v  irons.      73 

V.oUo  chooses  a  stiit  outside. 

"  And  tlicii/'  said  Rollo  to  his  fiither,  "if  there 
are  any  directions  to  be  given  to  the  postilion,  or 
if  you  have  any  questions  for  me  to  ask,  I  cud 
gpeak  to  hiin  more  conveniently.'' 

"  Is  tliat  the  true  reason  why  you  wish  to  ride 
there  ? ''  asked  his  father. 

''  Why,  no,  father/'  said  Hollo.  '*  The  true  rea- 
son is,  tliat  I  can  see  better." 

"  They  are  both  very  good  reasons,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday.  "  Then,  besides,  when  you  get  tired  of 
riding  there  you  can  come  inside." 

Accordingly,  when  the  carriage  came  to  the 
door,  Rollo,  after  seeing  his  father  and  mother 
safely  seated  inside,  mounted  on  the  top  with  the 
postilion,  and  so  they  rode  awav. 

They  repassed  the  bridge  by  which  they  had 
entered  Geneva,  and  then  turned  to  the  right  by 
a  road  which  led  along  the  margin  of  the  lake, 
at  a  little  distance  ironi  the  shore. 

The  road  was  very  smooth  and  hard,  and  the 
country  was  beautiful.  Sometimes  the  road  was 
bordered  on  each  side  by  high  walls,  which  formed 
the  enclosures  of  gardens  or  pleasure  grounds. 
Sometimes  it  was  open,  and  afforded  most  enchant- 
ing views  of  the  lake  and  of  the  ranges  of  moun- 
tains beyond.  But  what  chiefly  amused  and  occu- 
pied Rollo's  mind  was  the  novelties  which  he 
observed  in  the  form  and  structure  of  every  thinir 


74  RoLLO   12;    Geneva. 

iDcidetits  of  tlie  ride.  Interesting  infonnati*. a. 

he  saw  by  the  wayside.  Such  queer-looking  carta 
and  wheelbarrows,  such  odd  dresses,  such  groups 
of  children  at  play,  such  gates,  sucli  farmyards, 
Fuch  pumps  and  fountains  by  the  roadside  — 
t'Tcry  thing,  indeed,  was  new  and  strange. 

After  the  i)arty  had  been  riding  about  an  hour 
and  a  half,  tliey  passed  through  a  village  which 
consisted,  like  those  which  Rollo  had  seen  on  the 
road  from  Lyons,  of  compact  rows  of  old  and 
quaint-looking  stone  houses,  close  to  the  roadside. 
The  postilion  stopped  at  this  village  to  give  the 
horses  a  little  drink. 

"Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  ''I  wish  you 
would  get  down,  and  come  inside  a  little  while.' 

Rollo  obeyed  ;  and  when  the  carriage  began 
to  go  on  again,  his  father  addressed  him  aa 
follows : 

•'  We  are  going  to  see  the  residence  of  Mad- 
ame de  Stael.  She  was  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated ladies  that  ever  lived.  She  was  distin- 
guished as  an  authoress.  You  don't  know  any 
thing  about  her  now,  and  I  suppose  you  don'* 
care  much  about  her.'' 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  *'  I  do  not." 

"  ]>ut  then,"  continued  his  fiUhor,  "in  a  few 
5 ears  more  you  will  vci'y  jtrobably  read  some  of 
her  writings  ;  and  at  any  rate  you  will  often  hear 
of  them.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  hw 
works  is  a  tale  called  Corinue," 


A   Ride    in    xnE    Environs.      75 

Ma-'lamc  de  Ftapl.  Monsieui  Necker.  The  French  revolution. 

"  Ah,  yes/*  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  liave  heard  of  Co- 
fiiine.  The  first  class  Id  French  studied  it  at 
Bcliool." 

''Very  likely,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "It  is  a 
very  good  text  book  for  studying  French.  At 
any  rate  it  i«  a  famous  book,  and  Madame  de 
Stael  is  a  very  celebrated  author.  She  was  a 
lady,  too,  while  she  lived,  of  great  personal  dis- 
tinction. Her  rank  and  position  in  society  were 
very  exalted.  She  associated  with  kings  and 
princes,  and  was  closely  connected  with  many  of 
the  great  political  transactions  of  the  day  in 
which  she  lived.  This,  of  course,  added  greatly 
to  her  renown. 

"  Her  father  was  a  very  distinguished  man,  too. 
His  name  was  Monsieur  Necker.  He  was  a 
great  statesman  and  financier.  The  King  of 
France  got  his  money  affairs  in  the  greatest  con- 
fusion and  difi&culty,  and  he  appointed  Monsieur 
Necker  his  minister  of  finance,  to  try  to  put  them 
in  order." 

'•  And  did  he  succeed  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  it  was  too  late. 
Tlic  disorder  was  hopeless,  and  it  ended  in  the 
great  French  revolution.  But  Necker  became  a 
very  celebrated  character  in  history.  Wc  are 
going  to  see  the  chateau  where  he  lived.  We 
shall  see  the  room  whore  his  da\ighter  wrote  Co- 


^6  RoLLO   IN   Geneva. 

Tliey  vitit  Monsieur  Netkfr's  chati-aii. 

I'inne.  I  wish  you  to  observe  carefully  all  tlial 
you  see,  and  remember  it.  Hereafter,  when  you 
come  to  read  the  history  of  France  and  the  writ- 
inofs  of  Madame  de  Stael,  vou  will  look  l.uick 
with  great  pleasure  to  the  visit  you  made  when  a 
boy  to  the  chateau  of  Xecker,  near  Geneva." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  '^  I  will." 

A  short  time  after  this  the  carriage  stopped  in 
a  shady  jjlacc  under  some  trees,  near  the  entiancc 
to  a  villuLre.  The  postilion  descended  and  opened 
the  carriage  door,  and  then  pointed  up  an  avenue 
of  trees,  which  he  said  led  to  the  chateau.  Mr. 
and  ;Mrs.  Holiday  got  out  of  the  carriage  and 
walked  up  the  avenue.     Hollo  followed  them. 

They  came  at  length  to  the  chateau.  There 
was  a  large  portal,  closed  by  an  iron  gate.  On 
one  side  of  the  portal  was  a  lodge.  A  porter 
came  out  of  the  lodge,  and  Mr.  Holiday  asked 
him  if  tliey  could  see  the  chateau.  He  answered 
very  politely  that  they  could;  and  immediately 
opcniniT  the  iron  gate,  he  ushered  the  whole  party 
into  the  court  yard. 

Tlie  court  vard  was  a  very  pleasant  ])lace.  ll 
was  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the  buildings 
01*  the  cliatcau.  which  were  quite  imposing  in  their 
cliaractcr,  like  a  palace.  The  fourth  side  was 
ioimcd  by  a  handsome  wall,  with  a  large  orna- 
n;('iiicd  gateway  in  the  centre  of  it,  leading  into 
a  iiarden. 


A    R  I  1)  b:      1  N     T  H  E      K  N  V  I  R  0  N  s  .       77 


The  concierge.  Tlipy  v:\teT  tlie  chateau. 


The  entranco  to  tlio  clmteau  T\'as  at  a  largo 
door  in  the  middle  of  one  side  of  the  yard.  The 
porter  asceuded  the  steps,  and  rang-  the  bell.  He 
liaid  to  Mr.  Holiday  that  some  one  would  como. 
to  conduct  the  party  over  the  chateau,  and  then 
went  back  to  his  lodge. 

Presently  a  well-dressed  man  came  to  the  door. 
He  received  the  party  in  a  very  polite  and  friendly 
manner,  and  invited  them  in. 

The  first  apai'tment  that  they  entered  was  a 
hall.  The  hall  was  very  large,  and  was  finished 
and  furnished  like  a  room,  with  chairs,  sofas,  and 
a  great  fireplace.  On  one  side  was  a  broad  stone 
staircase,  ornamented  with  a  massive  balustrade. 
The  concierge  led  the  way  up  this  staircase  to  a 
sort  of  gallery  on  the  second  story.  From  tliis 
gallery  a  door  opened,  leading  to  the  suite  of 
apartments  which  Monsieur  Necker  and  his  dis- 
tinguished daughter  had  occupied. 

The  rooms  were  constructed  and  arranged  in 
the  style  common  in  French  palaces.  They  were 
situated  in  the  line  of  building  which  formed  the 
front  of  the  chateau  ;  and  on  the  front  side  of 
each  of  them  were  windows  looking  out  upon  the 
lake.  Of  course  these  windows  formed  the  range 
fif  windows  in  the  second  story  of  the  principal 
front  of  the  edifice. 

On  the  back  side  (  f  each  of  these  rooms  waL  a 


78  R  0  L  L  0     I  N     G  E  N  E  r  A 


The  appearance  of  the  apartments.  The  family  portraits. 

door  communicating  with  the  gallery  behind  them, 
or  with  some  subordinate  apartments  depending 
upon  them. 

Besides  these  doors,  there  were  others  whicb 
connected  the  different  apartments  of  the  suite 
with  each  other.  These  doors  were  all  in  a  line, 
and  they  were  near  the  side  of  the  room  where 
the  wiudow^s  were  wliich  looked  out  upon  the 
lake.  Thus  one  could  pass  through  the  whole 
suite  of  apartments  by  walking  along  from  one 
to  another  through  these  doors,  passing  thus  just 
in  front  of  the  range  of  windows. 

The  rooms  were  all  beautifully  furnished  in  tlie 
French  style.  There  were  richly  carved  cabinets 
and  book  cases,  and  splendid  mirrors,  and  sofas 
and  chairs,  and  paintings  and  statues.  One  room 
was  the  library.  Another  was  a  bedroom.  In 
one  there  were  several  portraits  on  the  wall. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  seemed  particularly  inter- 
ested in  examining  these  portraits.  One  repre- 
sented Madame  de  Stael  herself;  another,  her 
father,  Monsieur  Necker  ;  a  third,  her  mother, 
Madame  Necker.  Besides  these,  there  were  souio 
others  of  the  family. 

Rollo  looked  at  all  these  portraits,  as  his  father 
requested  him  to  do  ;  but  he  was  more  interested 
in  two  other  oltjccts  which  stood  on  a  table  io 
the  same  room.      These  objects  were  two  litllti 


A   Ride    in    the    Environs.     79 


Models  of  ptA  auimals.  Madaaie  de  Stael's  writing  table. 

figures,  one  representing  a  horse  and  the  otiiei-  a 
Iamb.  These  figures  were  under  a  glass.  Tlie 
horse  was  about  a  foot  long,  and  the  lamb  about 
six  inches.  The  horse  was  of  a  very  pretty  form 
and  was  covered  with  hair,  like  a  living  animal. 
The  lamb  in  the  same  manner  was  covered  with 
wool.  Indeed,  they  were  both  in  all  respects 
models  of  the  animals  they  represented  in  mini- 
ature. 

Rollo  asked  tlie  concierge  what  they  were. 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  those  are  models  of  a  favorite 
horse  and  a  favorite  lamb  that  belonged  to  Mon- 
sieur Necker.  Wlicn  they  died  he  was  very 
sorry ;  and  he  had  these  models  of  them  made, 
to  perpetuate  the  memoi-y  of  them.'' 

After  this,  in  other  rooms,  the  party  were 
shown  the  table  at  which  Madame  de  Stael  sat 
in  writing  Corinne,  and  the  inkstand  that  she 
used  ;  and  when  they  went  down  stairs,  the  con- 
cierge showed  them  into  a  large  hall,  which  was 
situated  directly  below  the  rooms  they  had  been 
visiting,  where  he  said  Madame  de  Stael  used  to 
have  her  dramas  performed  from  time  to  time 
before  an  audience  of  friends  and  visitors  from 
the  neighborhood. 

At  length  the  concierge  conducted  the  party  to 
the  door  where  they  had  come  in.  There  Mr. 
Holiday,  after  giving  him  a  franc,  thanked  him 


so  R  0  L  L  0     I  X     G  E  N  E  V  A  . 

Tile  burial  ground.  The  foHiitaia  auil  tho  casnaiie 

for  his  politeness,  and  bade  him  good  bye.  The 
party  took  a  little  walk  in  the  garden,  and  then 
returned  to  the  carriage  and  rode  away. 

The  bodies  of  Monsieur  Necker  and  of  l)i3 
daughter  lie  buried  in  a  little  grove  of  trees  near 
the  house.  The  party  saw  the  grove,  but  visitor? 
are  not  allowed  to  go  to  tlie  graves. 

On  leaving  the  chateau,  the  carriage  turned  ol! 
from  the  lake,  and  took  a  road  that  led  back 
more  into  the  interior. 

"What  are  we  going  to  see  next,  father?"  said 
Kollo. 

''  We  are  going  to  see  the  house  where  the 
famous  philosopher,  Voltaire,  lived,"  replie<l  ^Ir. 
Holiday  ;  "  though  on  the  way  we  are  going  to 
see  a  fountain  and  cascade." 

"Is  there  any  thing  very  remarkable  about 
Ihe  fountain?"  asked  Rollo. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Holiday;  "only  it 
is  mentioned  in  the  guide  books  as  worth  being 
visited." 

So  the  carriage  drove  on  through  a  very  beau- 
tiful country,  with  fields,  and  gartlens,  and  coun- 
try seats,  and  ancient  chateaux  bordering  the 
way.  From  time  to  time,  Rollo,  on  looking  back, 
ohlained  s})lendid  views  of  the  lake  behind  hir». 
and  of  the  gently-sloping  and  highly-cultivated 
M|i()n>  on  the  opposite  side,  with  the  snowy  iuii<-o 
i»l   the  Alps  lievoiiil.  -jhinii.L'  in  ilif  run. 


A  Ride    in    the    Environs.     81 


Finding  a  guide.  The  scboolbuy.  His  book. 

At  length  tliej  arrived  at  a  village,  and  stopped 
before  an  i  n.  The  postilion  said  that  they  were 
to  stop  there  with  the  carriage,  and  go  to  the 
fountain  on  foot. 

"  I  will  call  some  one  to  show  you  the  way," 
said  he. 

So  he  went  to  one  of  the  houses  across  the 
street,  and  called  a  woman  of  the  village,  and  she 
said  that  she  would  go  to  the  school  and  call  her 
boy. 

"  But  it  is  a  pity,''  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  to  take 
the  boy  away  from  his  school." 

"  0,  no,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  that  is  nothing 
at  all." 

So  she  ran  along  the  street  of  the  village  until 
she  came  to  the  school  house,  and  presently  she 
returned  with  the  boy.  He  had  a  book  in  his 
hand.  Rollo  looked  at  the  book,  and  found  that 
it  was  a  grammar.  The  covers  of  it  were  worn, 
and  the  leaves  tumbled,  and  the  beginning  and 
end  of  it  were  filled  with  names  scribbled  on  the 
blank  pages,  and  rude  drawings,  which  made  it 
look  exactly  like  the  school  books  of  idle  boyo, 
as  Rollo  had  often  seen  them  in  America. 

Rollo  gave  back  the  book  to  the  boy,  and  the 
boy  gave  it  to  his  mother ,  and  then  he  began 
walking  along  the  road,  to  show  the  party  the 
way  to  the  fountain. 
6 


82  RoLLo    IN    Geneva. 

Che  place  of  baths.  A  picturesque  stream. 

He  led  them  out  of  the  village,  and  along  tlie 
pleasant  road,  until  at  length  they  came  to  a 
place  where  there  was  an  open  gateway,  through 
which  they  could  see  the  beautiful  grounds  of  o 
large  country  house,  which  appeared  like  a  hotel. 
There  were  ladies  and  gentlemen  walking  about 
the  grounds,  along  the  margin  of  a  large  stream 
of  water,  or  sitting  in  groups  under  the  trees. 

"  What  place  is  that?"  said  Rollo  to  the  boy. 

"  It  is  a  place  of  baths,"  said  the  boy. 

Rollo  wished  to  go  in  there  and  see  the  grounds ; 
but  the  boy  walked  on,  and  so  Rollo  followed  him. 
After  a  time  the  guide  turned  off  into  a  field,  and 
there  took  a  path  which  led  down  toward  a  wood, 
where  they  could  hear  water  running.  When 
they  came  into  the  wood  they  saw  the  water.  I* 
was  a  large  stream,  large  enough  for  a  mill  stream, 
and  it  ran  foaming  and  tumbling  down  over  ita 
rocky  bed  in  a  very  picturesque  manner. 

The  walk  led  along  the  bank  of  the  stream, 
under  the  trees.  It  was  a  wide  and  very  pleas- 
ant walk,  ana  was  well  gravelled.  Here  and 
there  there  were  little  seats,  too,  at  pretty  placca 
fonoed  by  the  windings  of  the  glen. 

After  walking  along  a  little  way,  and  not  com 
ing  to  any  thing  more,  Mrs.  Holiday  began  to  bo 
tired. 

*'  I  wonder,"  said  she,  "  if  there  is  any  thing 
remarkable  to  see  at  the  end  of  this  path." 


A  Hide    in    the    E  x t  i  r o n s .     83^ 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  sit  down  to  rest,  while  IJollo  goes  on  to  explore. 

"Til  ask  the  boy,"  said  Rollo. 

*'  Boy,"  he  added,  speaking  to  the  little  guide, 
''  what  is  there  to  see  up  here  ?  " 

"  It  is  this,"  said  the  boy,  pointing  to  the  brook. 

"  Isn't  there  any  thing  else  besides  tliis  stream?  ' 
ftsked  Rollo. 

'  No,"  said  the  boy. 

*  He  says  there  is  not  any  thing  else,"  said 
Rollo  to  his  mother ;  "  and  so  I  don't  believe  it 
is  worth  while  to  go  any  farther.  We  have  seen 
this  brook  enough,  and  you  will  get  very  tired." 

Mrs.  Holiday  sat  down  upon  a  green  bend> 
that  happened  to  be  near,  at  a  turn  of  the  stream 
in  order  to  take  time  to  consider  the  question. 

Mr.  Holiday  sat  down  beside  her. 

"  We  will  wait  here,  Rollo,  while  you  go  on 
with  the  Doy,  and  see  what  you  can  find.  I  think 
there  must  be  something  or  other  remarkable,  for 
they  would  not  make  so  good  a  path  as  this  to 
lead  to  nothing  at  all.  You  may  go  on  with  the 
boy,  and  see  what  it  comes  to,  and  then  you  can 
come  back  and  tell  us." 

Rollo  liked  this  plan  very  much,  and  so  ho  ard 
the  boy  walked  on. 

In  about  five  minutes  Mr.  Holiday  heard  LloUc 
calling  to  him. 

"  F  A-THER !  FA-THER  !  "  said  he. 

"  WeU/'  said  Mr  Holiday,  "i  hear." 


84  R  0  L  L  o   IX    G  E  N  ?■;  V  A  . 

The  1  oiling  eiJiiii;;.                                                 Tlie  «>\irco  of  the  sficam. 
. — '   < 

"  Come  up  here/'  said  Rollo,  callini^  out  again 
"It  is  a  very  curious  place  indeed." 

So  Mr.  and  Mr?.  Holiday  rose,  and  after  fol 
lowing  the  patli  a  short  distance  farther  through 
the  wood,  they  came  to  where  Rollo  was.  They 
found,  to  their  astonisliment,  tliat  there  the  brook 
which  thev  liad  l»een  rollowin<T  so  lone:  came  to  a 
sudden  end,  or  rather  to  a  sudden  beginning  ;  for 
the  whole  volume  of  water  tliat  composed  it  was 
seen  here  to  come  boiling  up  out  of  the  ground 
in  a  sort  of  shallow  basin,  which  was  formed  on 
the  hill  side  at  the  head  of  the  glen. 

The  place  was  very  secluded,  but  it  was  very 
beautiful.  It  was  shaded  with  trees,  which  over- 
hung the  paths,  and  the  basin,  and  the  various 
channels  of  water  which  flowed  from  it  and 
around  it.  The  water  boiled  up  very  copiously 
from  between  tlie  stones  that  had  been  set  up  to 
form  the  margin  of  the  basin,  and  also  among 
the  sands  which  formed  the  l)Ottom  of  it.  The 
walk  was  conducted  all  around  this  singular 
fountain  ;  and  it  passed  across  the  outlet,  where 
the  stream  flowed  away  from  it,  over  a  neat  little 
etone  dike,  which  foiincd  the  edge  of  the  basin 
on  the  lower  side. 

Rollo  led  the  way  to  the  middle  of  this  dike, 
and  his  father  and  mother  followed.  They  stood 
there  for  some  time,  looking  down  into  the  basin 


A   Ride    in    the    IiIkv  irons.     85 

Mr.  Kuli.lay  explains  where  tlm  water  comes  from. 

tc  see  the  water  boil  up  from  between  the  stones 
and  among  the  sands. 

"  This  is  a  very  curious  place  indeed,"  said  Mrs. 
Holiday. 

"It  certainly  is,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  Weil,  fother,"  said  Rollo,  after  gazing  for 
some  time  into  the  bubbling  and  boiling  fountain, 
"  wliere  does  all  this  water  come  from  ?  What 
makes  it  come  up  out  of  the  ground?  " 

"  Why,  the  truth  is,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  though 
it  seems  to  come  up,  it  really  comes  down. 

"  Do  you  see  all  this  mountain  up  here?"  he 
added.  So  saying  he  pointed  to  the  land  which 
seemed  to  rise  to  a  great  height  above  the  head 
of  the  glcn. 

''Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Well,  this  mountain,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday, 
*'is  full  of  water.  All  mountains  are  full  of 
water,  for  it  rains  on  the  summits  and  sides  of 
th.em  almost  continually,  and  this  keeps  thei^i 
always  fuiL  Generally  this  v/ater  drains  off 
down  u\U)  the  valleys,  through  the  beds  of  sand 
and  gravel  that  lie  in  tlie  hcsrt  of  the  mountairij 
and  so  is  not  particularly  observed.  Sometimes 
it  breaks  out  in  small  springs,  at  various  places 
on  the  inoantiin  sides  ;  and  someljmes  the  shape 
of  the  rocks  and  openings  in  the  mountain  are 
auch  us  to  collect  a  great  quantity  of  it  in  on& 


86  R  0  L  L  0     I  N     G  E  X  E  T  A  . 

Why  the  spring  docs  not  Ftop  Cowing. 

place,  Tvhere  it  breaks  out  into  the  open  ground 
altogether,  as  it  does  here.  There  are  a  great 
iiiany  such  foontains  in  Switzerland.'' 

"  Are  there  any  larger  than  this  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

*'  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  ten  times  as  large. 
Sometimes  the  water  forms  quite  a  little  river 
almost  immediately  after  it  comes  out  of  the 
ground." 

"  I  should  like  to  see  them,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Very  likely  you  will  see  some  of  them,"  said 
his  father. 

"]]ut  then,  fi)ther,"  said  Rollo,  "if  this  water 
all  comes  from  the  rain,  I  should  think  that  when 
it  stops  raining  on  the  mountain  above,  then  or 
soon  afterwards  the  water  would  stop  boiling  up 
here." 

"No,"  said  his  father;  ''the  mountain  is  so 
large,  and  the  immense  beds  of  sand,  gravel,  and 
rock  which  it  contains  hold  so  much  water,  that 
bclbre  all  that  has  fallen  in  one  rain  has  time  to 
get  drained  away,  another  rain  comes,  and  so 
theie  is  a  perpetual  supply,  esj)ecially  for  such 
fountains  as  come  from  channels  that  reach  far 
into  the  mountain." 

After  rambling  about  this  spot  for  some  time, 
the  ]!arty  returned  down  the  path  :  but  instead 
of  going  back  into  the  road  again  by  the  way 
tlicy  came,  the  boy  led  them  through  a  ga'c  iiiU? 


A   Ride    in    the    Environs.     87 


The  party  ramble  about  in  the  hotel  grounds. 


the  ^rounds  of  the  hotel  which  thev  had  seen  ia 
coming. 

The  grounds  were  very  beautiful,  being  shaded 
with  trees,  and  full  of  walks ;  and  the  stream 
which  came  down  the  glen  spread  itself  out  in 
various  directions  all  over  them,  filling  a  great 
number  of  channels  and  basins  which  had  been 
opened  here  and  there,  and  were  seen  in  every 
direction  among  the  trees  and  foliage.  The 
water  flowed  very  swiftly  along  from  one  of 
these  basins  to  another,  sometimes  in  a  continu- 
ous tcrrent,  and  sometimes  by  a  series  of  cas- 
cades and  waterfalls ;  and  in  the  bottoms  of  all 
the  little  ponds  the  water  was  seen  boiling  up  in 
tlie  clean  gray  sand,  just  as  it  had  done  in  the 
fountain  up  the  glen. 

There  were  walks  every  where  along  the  banks 
of  these  streams,  and  little  bridges  leading  across 
them.  There  were  seats,  too,  and  bowers,  and  a 
great  many  other  pretty  places.  At  one  spot 
under  a  tree  was  a  large  white  swan,  or  rather  a 
.sculptured  image  of  one,  sitting  on  a  marble 
stone,  and  pouring  out  a  constant  stream  of  clear 
cold  water  from  his  mouth.  Underneath,  on  a 
little  marble  slab,  was  a  tumbler,  placed  there  to 
enable  people  to  take  a  drink.  Rollo  stopped  to 
t-ake  a  drink  ;  but  instead  of  using  the  tumbler, 
he  caught  the  water  in  a  drinking  cup  which  he 


88  R  0  L  I.  0      I  X      G  F.  NEVA. 

Pisuiissin-r  tin*  puMe.  The  ciiatcau  of  Voltafre. 


had  bouglit  in  Scotland,  and  which  he  always 
caiciod  ill  his  jiockct. 

Arter  ramliling  about  tliose  grounds  for  some 
time,  the  parly  went  back  through  the  yard  of 
the  hotel  to  the  village.  Tlicre  they  dismissed 
tiie  boy.  Mr.  Holiday  gave  him  half  a  franc  for 
guiding  them.  Then  they  got  into  their  carriage 
again,  and  rode  on. 

In  about  an  hour  they  came  to  a  little  village 
named  Ferney,  near  which  was  the  chateau  that 
was  formerly  the  residence  of  the  celei>rated 
philosopher  Voltaire.  The  carriage  stopped 
under  some  ancient  trees,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday and  Kollo  got  out  and  walked  up  an  avenue. 
At  the  head  of  the  avenue  they  came  to  a  gate 
which  led  into  the  grounds  of  the  chateau. 

'I'here  was  a  bell  cord  hanging  by  this  gate, 
and  a  placard  up,  requesting  visitors  to  ring  the 
bell,  and  not  to  enter  the  grounds  until  tlic  do- 
mestic should  come  to  guide  them. 

"Shall  I  ring,  father?"  said  Hollo. 

♦' Ye.s,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "ring  away." 

So  Rollo  pulled  the  bell  rope,  and  very  soon  u 
domestic  came.  He  received  the  company  very 
uoliiely,  and  inviiod  them  to  follow  him. 

Ml',  and  Mrs.  Holiday  and  Hollo  accordingly 
*bl lowed  him  into  the  yard.  The  domestic  led 
Ihcui  round  to  the  frout  of  the  house,  which  wafi 


A  Ride    in    the   EnviPwOns.     89 

Memorials  of  Voltaire.  The  pepulchral  urn. 

turned  away  from  the  road.  The  front  faced  a 
beautiful  lawn,  ornamented  with  walks  and  trees. 
In  one  place  there  was  a  table  under  the  trees, 
wilh  seats  around  it,  as  if  the  family  were  accus- 
tomed sometimes  to  take  their  tea  there.  From 
this  lawn  there  was  a  beautiful  view  of  the  lake 
and  of  the  mountains  beyond. 

The  domestic  led  them  into  the  house,  and 
showed  them  the  two  rooms  in  it  which  contained 
most  of  the  memorials  of  Yoltaire.  The  most 
remarkable  of  these  memorials  was  a  marble 
monument  which  stood  on  one  side  of  the  room, 
and  which  Rollo  said  looked  like  an  ornamental 
stove,  that  contained  Voltaire's  heart.  His  body 
was  buried  in  Paris,  but  his  heart  was  deposited 
in  this  sepulchral  urn. 

Besides  this  there  were  a  number  of  pictures 
in  the  room,  which  had  been  placed  there  by  Vol- 
taire. Some  of  them  had  been  given  to  him  by 
the  emperors  and  kings  that  he  had  been  ac- 
quainted with. 

Rollo,  however,  did  not  take  much  interest  in 
any  of  these  things.  The  singular  appearance  of 
the  room  and  of  the  furniture  interested  him  in 
some  degree  by  its  noveliy,  but  in  other  respects 
he  was  very  little  amused  by  what  he  saw.  He 
was  glad  when  the  visit  to  the  house  w.as  over, 
and  he  came  out  again  upon  the  law^u. 


dO  R  O  L  L  0     I  X     G  E  X  E  Y  A  . 

View  of  Mont  Blanc  from  Voltiiire's  cbatcitu. 

Fi^om  the  lawn  there  was  a  yery  splendid  view. 
There  was  a  broad  and  very  fertile  slope  of  land 
extending  for  several  miles  down  to  the  shore  of 
tlie  lake.  Beyond  it  was  seen  the  blue  expanse 
of  the  water,  and  still  farther  another  magnili- 
cent  slope  of  fertile  and  richly-cultivated  land, 
which  extended  back  beyond  the  lake  to  the  foot 
of  the  mountains.  A  lofty  range  of  snow-clad 
summits  rose  in  the  distance,  the  towering  summit 
of  Mont  Blanc  reposing  like  a  monarch  in  the 
midst  of  them. 

There  was  a  curious  covered  walk  along  on  one 
side  of  this  lawn.  It  was  a  walk  covered  with 
foliage.  It  was  walled  in  on  the  sides,  too,  aa 
well  as  covered  above  with  the  foliage.  Two 
hedges  had  been  planted,  one  on  each  side  ;  and 
as  they  had  grown,  the  leaves  and  branches  had 
been  trimmed  oil'  straiglit  and  smooth  liko  a  wall. 
Then  the  tops  had  been  trained  to  meet  overhead, 
and  the  foliage  had  been  trimmed  square  and  Hat 
on  the  upper  side,  and  in  an  arch  on  the  under 
side.  So  dense  was  the  growth  of  the  leaves  and 
l)ranche3  that  the  whole  alley  was  closely  and 
complet'^ly  enclosed,  so  that  it  would  not  have 
been  po?sible  to  look  out  of  it  at  all,  had  it  not 
been  that  a  row  of  square  openings  like  windows 
had  been  made  on  the  side  towards  the  lake.  Any 
one  could  look  out  and  view  the  scenery  through 
these  openings  as  he  walked  along. 


A  Ride    in    the   Environs.      9\ 


\oltaire"s  alley  on  the  lawn.  The  extoriUed  tn  e. 

Voltaire  used  to  compose  his  works  in  ll;ig 
rIIcv,  it  was  said.  lie  would  walk  up  and  down, 
and  dictate  as  he  walked  to  his  amanuensis,  w!  o 
Bat  near  at  hand  with  pen  and  ink  to  write  do*.',  n 
(he  philosopher's  words. 

After  this  the  domestic  conducted  the  parly 
through  a  wood,  and  sliowcd  tliem  a  tree  which 
Voltaire  had  planted.  It  was  now  a  tree  of  great 
size,  and  apparently  fai-  advanced  in  age. 

Rollo  took  very  little  interest  in  this  tree,  and 
even  his  father  and  motliei-  did  not  appear  to  ]!ay 
much  attention  to  it.  Jt  seemed,  however,  that 
other  visitors  had  not  felt  the  same  indifference 
to  it,  for  those  who  had  come  to  see  it  had  })icked 
off  and  cut  off  so  niany  pieces  of  bark  to  carry 
away  as  relics  that  the  tree,  on  one  side  had  ho 
come  entirely  excoriated,  and  there  w^as  danger 
that  in  the  end  the  poor  sufferer  from  these  dep- 
redations would  be  killed.  In  order  to  protect 
it,  therefore,  from  any  further  injury,  the  propri- 
etor had  surrounded  it  with  a  little  circular 
paling,  so  that  now  nobody  could  come  near 
enough  to  touch  the  tree. 

Rollo  was  glad  when  the  visit  to  this  place 
was  ended ;  so  he  ran  on  before  his  father  and 
mother  in  going  out,  and  was  on  his  seat  by  the 
Bide  of  the  postilion  long  before  they  came  to  ll\^ 
carriage. 


92 


Pv  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 


From  Feriuy  to  Ueueva.       Ciwsiug  the  frontier.       Tlie  custuni  house. 

Ferney,  though  so  near  to  Geneva,  is  witliin 
the  confines  of  France,  and  the  carriage  passed 
the  line  between  the  two  countries  in  going  home. 
There  was  a  little  custom  house  and  two  or  tliiee 
armed  policemen  at  the  frontier ;  but  the  pai  ty 
of  travellers  were  not  molested,  and  so  in  due 
time  they  arrived  safely  home. 


% 


/^. 


M") 


The  Junction   of   the   A  r  v  e .     93 


Clear  water.  The  color  of  it. 


C  H  A  PTER     YII. 

The  Junction  op  the  Arve. 

One  evening,  when  Rollo  was  walking  with  liig 
father  and  motlier  on  one  of  the  bridges  which 
led  over  the  river,  they  stopped  at  a  place  where 
two  boys  were  fishing,  and  looked  down  over  the 
railing  into  the  water.  The  water  was  quite 
deep,  but  they  could  see  the  stones  on  the  bottom 
of  it  almost  as  distinctly  as  if  they  had  been  look- 
ing only  through  the  air. 

"  How  very  clear  the  water  is  !  "  said  Mrs.  Hoi- 
day  ;  "  and  what  a  beautiful  tinge  it  has  I    W  hat 
is  the  reason  of  it?" 

"  I  don't  know  what  the  reason  is  of  the  blue 
tinge,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "but  the  cause  of  ita 
being  so  clear  is,  that  it  flows  out  of  this  great 
hike,  where  it  has  been  lying  so  long  that  it  has 
hM'l  rune  to  settle  perfectly. 

•'  There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  streams  of 
Switzerland,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday.  "Some 
are  exceedingly  clear,  and  some  are  exceedingly 
tiniiid.     There  arc  two  way^  by  which  the  turbid 


94  H  0  I,  I  0    i  N'    G  r-  S'  f:  t  A  . 


FiUciing  and  Bi-ttling.  What  Ci\uc5t««  t  jrl.idtip«. 

waters  become  purified.  One  is,  by  being  filtcrcrl 
tlirough  the  sands  under  ground ;  and  the  othei-  i,-. 
by  ^ settling,^  as  we  call  it,  in  the  hikes.  The 
water  of  the  fountain  that  we  saw  on  our  way  to 
Fcrney  was  beautifully  clear,  and  it  was  made  sn 
by  filtration  in  the  sand,  in  cominir  down  throu^di 
the  heart  of  the  mountain.  This  water,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  made  clear  by  its  impurities  sul>- 
sidiug  in  the  lake." 

"  And  it  comes  in  mudily  at  the  otiier  end," 
Baid  Rollo. 

"Not  muddy,  exactly,"  rejoined  Mr.  Ilolidny, 
**  but  very  turbid.  The  turbidness  of  it  is  not 
mud  precisely.  It  comes  from  the  grinding  up 
of  rocks  by  the  slow  march  of  the  glaciers  ovc 
and  among  them.  Thus  all  the  streams  tliat 
come  from  glaciers  are  very  turbi<l  ;  and  so  long 
as  the  waters  flow  on  irj  an  uninterrupted  stream 
they  continue  turl>id  ;  but  when  they  form  a  lake, 
the  particles  of  stone  subside,  and  the  water 
comes  out  at  the  lower  end  of  the  lake  perfectly 
clear." 

"And  then  continues  clear  till  it  geLs  (o  Iho 
ocean,  I  suppose,"  said  Mis.  Holiday. 

'*  Yes,"  ie[)lied  Mr.  Holiday,  "unless  sontC 
ether  turbid  stream,  whi<h  has  no  hd<e  to  settle 
itself  in.  falls  into  it  and  pollutes  it  again 

"That  is  the  ca.'-e  with  lijis  rivu.     It  is  verji 


T  H  R  Junction   o  p^  the   A  r  v  e  .     05 

Mr.  Holiday  describee  the  junction  of  the  Aive. 

clear  and  beautiful  here,  where  it  comes  out  of 
the  lake,  but  the  Arve  comes  in  a  mile  or  two 
Delow  Geneva,  and  brings  an  immense  volume  of 
turbid  water.  This  makes  the  whole  river  tur- 
bid again  after  the  waters  of  the  two  rivers  have 
flowed  long  enough  together  to  get  well  mixed, 
and  then  it  continues  turbid  all  the  way  to  the 
sea.     There  is  no  other  lake  to  settle  it. 

•'  I  am. told,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  that  the  com- 
ing in  of  the  turbid  torrent  of  tlie  Arve  into  the 
clear  blue  waters  of  the  Rhone  is  a  very  pretty 
spectacle,  and  I  should  like  very  much  to  see  it  j 
but  it  is  rather  too  far  to  go." 

"  0,  no,  father,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  let  us  go." 

"How  far  is  it?"  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"About  a  mile,  I  should  think,  by  the  map/ 
said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  but  there  seems  to  be  no 
carriage  road  to  the  place.  If  there  had  been  a 
carriage  road  I  should  have  taken  you  there  j  for 
I  sliould  like  very  well  to  have  you  see  the  place." 

"  But,  father,  we  can  walk  there  very  easily," 
said  Rollo.  "There  is  a  nice  path  along  the 
bank  of  the  river.  I  saw  it  the  other  day,  when 
I  was  down  below  the  bridge." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  I  should  like  to 
go  very  much,  if  we  could  go  in  the  morning  or 
in  the  evening,  when  it  is  cool.  Is  the  walk 
shady,  Rollo?" 


96  R  0  L  L  0     I  N     G  E  X  E  T  A  . 

The  excursion  before  breakfast.     Wby  the  p;irty  could  not  go  in  a  boat 

"Yes,  mother,  it  is  shady  in  the  morning. 
T!,e';c  is  a  high  hedge  all  along  on  one  side  of 
tlie  path,  and  that  keeps  the  sun  off  in  the  morn- 
iiic.  In  the  evening  the  sun  comes  round  to  tliQ 
(itlier  side." 

'  Then  we  will  go  in  the  morning,"  said  Mrj, 
lloliday.  "  Let  us  get  up  early  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, and  go  before  breakfast." 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  really  desirous  of  seeing 
this  famous  junction  of  the  Rhone  and  the  Arve ; 
but  her  chief  interest  in  making  the  excursion 
arose  from  her  sympathy  with  Rollo,  and  from 
observing  how  much  he  wished  to  go.  It  is 
always  so  with  a  mother.  When  her  cliildren 
are  kind  and  attentive  to  her,  and  obedient  to 
her  wishes,  she  always  desires  most  strongly  to 
do  wliat  will  most  gratify  them. 

The  plan  was  arranged  according  to  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday's proposal,  and  the  next  morning  the  party 
set  out  at  lialf  past  six  o'clock.    Rollo  led  the  way. 

"  What  1  should  like  best,"  said  Rollo,  turning 
round  so  as  to  face  his  father  and  mother,  and 
walking  backward,  '"would  be  to  take  a  boat, 
ai.d  shoot  down  the  river  under  these  bridges." 

"Ah,"  said  his  father,  "that  would  not  do. 
The  current  is  too  swift.  At  any  rate,  if  you 
vere  to  go  down  you  would  never  get  the  boat 
liack  again.     The  water  runs  like  a  mill  race. 


The  J  rxcTioN  OF  THB   Arve.     97 

Tbe  mill  race.  Olfl  fortifications  auel  new  iuaprovenieuts. 


)  2 


"Indeed,  it  is  a  mill  race,"  continued  Mr.  IIol 
iday.  "  Don't  yon  see  tlie  mill  wheels  projectii  ^^ 
into  the  stream,  heie  and  there?  They  are  car- 
ried by  the  natural  force  of  the  current." 

After  passing  by  the  buildings  of  the  town, 
Rollo  led  the  way  over  a  narrow  wooden  bridge, 
wliich  passed  across  the  old  moat  of  the  town. 
The  remains  of  a  monstrous  bastion  were  to  be 
seen  beyond  it. 

"  This  is  a  part  of  the  old  fortifications/'  said 
Rollo.  "  They  are  cutting  them  all  to  pieces  now 
with  roads  and  bridges  leading  in  and  out  tlie 
town.'' 

xlfter  going  beyond  these  embankments,  Rollo 
led  the  way  to  a  path  which  lay  along  the  river 
side.  Very  soon  the  path  began  to  be  a  very 
pleasant  one  indeed.  Mrs.  Holiday  was  deliglit- 
ed  with  it.  It  was  close  to  the  margin  of  the 
water,  and  only  a  \erj  few  inches  above  the  level 
of  it.  The  current  was  very  swift,  and  the  water 
was  so  blue,  and  clear,  and  beautiful,  that  it  was 
a  continual  pleasure  to  look  down  into  it,  and  to 
watch  the  little  waves  and  ripples  that  curled, 
and  twilled,  and  dashed  against  the  shore. 

There  was  a  row  of  willows  between  the  paths 

and   the  water,  or  rather  in   the  margin  of  the 

water,  for  the  path  was  so  near  to  the  stream 

that  there  was  scarcely  room  for  the  willows  on 

7 


9&  R  0  L  T.  0    IX    Geneva. 


The  path  along  the  river  Fide. 


the  land.  On  the  other  side  of  the  path  tber€ 
was  a  close  hedge,  wliieh  formed  the  boundary  of 
a  region  of  fields,  meadows,  and  gardens.  Hero 
and  there  were  gates  leading  through  tliis  hedge; 
and  the  party,  as  they  walked  along,  could  look 
tlirough  the  openings  and  see  the  peasant  girls 
coming  out  to  their  work  from  tlie  houses.  Tlie 
wiiole  region,  though  it  was  higlily  cultivated 
and  extremely  beautiful,  was  very  flat  and  level, 
and  was  only  raised  two  or  three  feet  above  tlie 
level  of  the  water. 

From  each  gateway  or  other  (T|)ening  through 
the  hedge  there  were  paths  leading  off  through 
the  fields  and  gardens  to  the  houses  ;  and  tliere 
were  steps  at  the  gates  leading  down  to  the  path- 
way that  lay  along  tlie  margin  of  the  stream. 
I'he  peo|)ie  of  the  houses  were  accustomed,  it 
seemed,  to  come  down  there  to  get  water. 

Thus  the  party  walked  along,  with  the  riijid 
current  oT  ine  river  close  to  their  feet  on  one 
side,  and  the  high  green  hedge  shutting  them  in 
on  the  other,  while  the  tops  of  the  willow  trrrn 
spreading  over  their  iieads  completed  the  (oul 
ness  and  shadiness  of  the  pathway.  Rollo  h\i 
the  way,  and  his  father  and  mother  followed,  our 
by  one,  for  the  j»ath  was  not  wide  enough  lur  twc; 
to  walk  together. 

Pieseutly  Lhey  came  to  a  phice  wheie  a   large 


The  Ju^^cTIox  of  the   Arve.  IJl 


Tho  water  wheel  ou  the  Rhone.  Irrigation.  The  prospt  ct 

water-  wheel  of  a  very  curious  construction  \va? 
seen  rcvolv'ing  quite  near  the  shore.  They  stoppo*; 
to  look  at  it.  They  liked  to  see  it  revolving- ; 
and  tlien  besides  they  wished  to  examine  the  con- 
struction of  it.  It  was  mounted  on  a  frame  of 
timbers  that  had  been  set  up  for  it  in  tlie  water, 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  shore.  The  wheel 
itself  was  much  like  the  wheel  of  a  steamboat ; 
only,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  float  boards,  it 
had  a  series  of  buckets  on  the  edge  of  it,  which 
took  up  the  water  from  the  stream,  as  the  wheel 
revolved,  and  emptied  it  into  a  trough  above,  as 
they  went  over.  From  this  trough  there  was  a 
circular  pipe,  made  very  strong,  which  conveyed 
the  water  by  a  subterranean  aqueduct  into  the 
field  opposite,  where  it  rose  into  a  reservoir  bv 
the  pressure  of  the  column  in  the  pipe,  and  was 
used  to  irrigate  the  ground. 

Across  the  river  at  this  place  was  a  beautiful 
view  of  fields,  vineyards,  terraces,  and  gardens ; 
for  on  that  side  the  bank  was  high,  and  as  the 
sun  shone  directly  upon  it,  the  whole  scene  pre- 
sented to  view  was  extremely  bright  and  beautiful. 

At  one  of  the  gales  which  opened  through  the 
'ledge,  Rollo  stopped  to  look  in.  He  saw  gar- 
dens laid  out  in  squares,  with  corn,  and  beans, 
and  various  garden  vegetables  growing  luxuri- 
antly in  them.     There  were  rows  of  fruit  trees. 


102  VI  0  L  L  0   IX    Geneva. 

The  interval  lietween  the  Arve  and  the  Rhone. 

too,  bordering  the  paths,  and  at  a  distance  wer« 
to  be  seen  liouses  scattered  here  and  there  over 
tlic  plain,  the  dwellings  of  the  owners  of  the  land. 
Each  house  had  its  little  barns  and  gianarics  con- 
nected witli  it,  the  whole  group  being  half  con- 
cealed bj  the  foliage  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  that 
had  been  })lanted  around  it. 

"  Will  it  do  for  us  to  go  in,"  said  Rollo  to  his 
father,  "and  walk  a  part  of  the  way  through 
these  gardens  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father,  "  I  presume  it  will  do  ; 
but  perhaps  we  had  better  go  down  all  the  way 
by  the  path,  and  come  back  by  tlie  irardens." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  will  be  much  the 
best  plan. 

•'  ])ut,  father,"  continued  Rollo,  "  if  we  should 
go  across  these  gardens,  and  keep  on  in  that 
direction  for  some  time,  I  suppose  that  we  should 
come  to  the  Arve." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father ;  "  the  Arve  is  coming 
down  from  the  mountains,  and  flowing  towards 
the  Rhone  not  very  far  from  here,  on  the  other 
Bide  of  this  flat  land.  This  land  constitutes  a 
t-ort  of  tongue  lying  between  the  two  rivers.  I 
suppose  it  has  been  formed  by  the  deposits  that 
the  Arve  brings  down.  1  have  no  doubt  that  if 
we  should  walk  across  the  tongue  of  land,  wo 
should  come  to  the  Arve  ;  but  it  is  better  to  go 


The  J  c  n  c t  1  0  n   of  the  A r  v  e .  103 

The  fisherman  in  the  willow  tree  upon  the  river  bank. 

on  down  the  path  till  we  reach  the  point  wliera 
the  two  rivers  come  together." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  will  go  on." 

So  they  went  on  along  the  path,  as  before. 

Rollo  soon  had  occasion  to  be  glad  that  he  bad 
acceded  so  readily  to  his  father's  wishes  to  con- 
tinue in  the  path  ;  for  he  soon  came  to  something 
that  amused  him  very  much.  It  was  a  man  sit- 
ting in  the  top  of  one  of  the  willow  trees  that 
overhimg  the  path,  fishing.  The  willow  leaned 
very  much,  and  this  made  it  easy  to  climb  the 
stem  of  it.  It  had  been  headed  down,  too,  so 
that  there  was  a  pretty  good  place  to  sit  on  the 
top  of  it.  It  was  on  the  very  brink  of  the  stream, 
and  indeed  the  leaning  of  the  stem  carried  the 
top  of  the  willow  somewhat  over  the  water,  and 
thus  it  made  quite  a  good  place  to  sit  and  fish. 

The  current  flowed  very  swiftly  under  the  wil- 
low tree,  and  the  fishing  line  was  carried  far 
down  the  stream. 

"  Ah  I  "  said  Rollo  •  "  that  is  just  such  a  place 
as  I  should  like  to  have.  I  should  like  to  sit  up 
in  that  tree  and  fish  all  the  morning." 

"  I  should  think  it  might  be  a  little  lonesome/' 
Baid  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  or  perhaps  there  might  be 
gome  other  boys  in  the  other  trees." 

go  gaying,  BpUo  Igoked  up  and   clows   tUfl 


104 


R  0  L  L  0     IN     (i  E  X  E  V  A 


A  good  place  fur  a  fistu-ruiau. 


Btream,  to  see  if  tlierc  were  any  otlier  trees  so 
formed  as  to  furnisli  a  seat  for  a  fisherman  in  the 
top  of  them  ;  but  tliere  were  none. 

Here  you  see  a  picture  of  the  man  as  Hollo 
saw  him. 


rnBiNa. 


As  the  party  went  on  after  this  tliey  found  evi- 
dences increasing  that  they  were  drawing  near  to 
the  junction  of  the  rivers.     The  hedge  becaiuf 


The  Juncttox   of  the   Arte.  105 

Coming  to  the  junction.  Gray  water  aod  blue. 

less  regular,  and  at  length  ceased  altogctlicr.  lis 
place  was  supplied  by  dense  thickets  formed  of 
aiders,  willows,  and  long  grass.  The  ground  be- 
come more  and  more  uneven,  and  at  length  noth- 
ing of  the  path  was  left  but  a  narrow  ridge  or 
dike  that  had  been  formed  artificially  along  the 
shore,  with  a  crooked  little  footway  on  the  top 
of  it. 

A.t  last  Rollo  began  to  see  through  the  bushes 
occasional  glimpses  of  water  on  the  other  side. 

"There,  father!"  said  he,  "there!  We  are 
coming  to  the  Arve." 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday;  "  and  I  don't  sup- 
pose that  we  can  go  much  farther." 

Indeed,  it  would  have  ))een  impossible  to  go 
much  farther,  if  there  had  not  been  a  small  em- 
bankment made  to  serve  for  a  pathway.  The 
party,  though  expecting  every  moment  to  be 
obliged  to  turn  back,  still  went  on.  At  length 
the  whole  expanse  of  the  Arve  opened  before 
them  as  it  came  in  from  the  left  —  its  waters  boil- 
ing, whirling,  and  sweeping  in  great  circles  as  it 
came  on,  and  the  whole  surface  of  it  as  gray  as 
the  sand  on  the  shores.  On  the  other  side  wa« 
the  Rhone,  blue,  and  pellucid,  and  beautiful  aa 
the  sky  above. 

"  What  an  extraordinary  spectacle! "  said  Mn 
Holiday. 


lt)6  RoLLO   IN    Geneva. 


The  dike  or  mole  bet-xeen  tlie  rivere 


''  Come,  mother/'  said  Rollo,  "  we  can  go  on  a 
good  deal  farther  yet.'' 

Rollo  was  right ;  for  the  walk,  instead  of  com- 
ing to  an  end  at  the  extremity  of  the  point  which 
separated  the  two  rivers,  was  continued  along  a 
little  dike  or  embankment  which  seemed  to  have 
been  made  artificially  some  distance  down  between 
the  two  streams.  This  dike  was  very  narrow, 
being  just  wide  enough  indeed  for  a  narrow  foot- 
path. 

In  advancing  along  this  path  it  was  very  curi- 
ous to  observe  the  totally  diflerent  aspects  of  the 
water  on  the  two  sides  of  it.  On  the  one  side  it 
was  turbid  and  gray,  and  perfectly  opiujut.  You 
could  not  have  seen  the  pollywogs  in  the  slial- 
lowest  places  along  the  margin.  On  the  other 
side  it  was  so  clear  and  transparent  that  you 
could  have  seen  fishes  swimming  where  it  was  ten 
feet  deep.  It  was  of  such  a  rich  and  beautiful 
blue  color,  too,  as  if  it  had  been  tinted  with  a 
dye,  and  the  color  was  of  so  rich  and  brilliant  a 
hue,  that  Mrs.  Holiday  was  continually  admiring 
and  praising  it. 

This  narrow  path,  dividing  thus  the  waters  of 
Ihe  two  rivers,  continued  several  yards  :  bnt  at 
length  it  came  to  an  end.  The  party  all  went  on 
till  they  reached  the  extremity  of  it,  and  there, 
lookinjr  still  farther  on,  thev  saw  the  line  of  'lih 


The  Junction  of  the  Arte.  101 

The  singular  phenomenon  of  the  mixing  of  the  waters. 

mai cation  between  the  gray  water,  and  tlie  bluG 
extending  itself  before  tliem  as  far  as  tliey  could 
see.  Tlie  two  rivers  remained  for  a  long  distance 
perfect!}^  distinct,  though  struggling  and  contend- 
ing against  each  other,  as  it  were,  all  the  way. 
The  line  was  broken  and  indented  all  along  by 
the  strife  of  the  waters  —  the  gray  for  a  moment 
penetrating  into  the  blue,  and  then  the  next  in- 
stant the  blue  forcing  itself  into  the  gray.  The 
waters  went  on  struggling  against  each  other  in 
this  manner  as  far  as  tlie  eye  could  follow  them. 

The  party  remained  on  the  extremity  of  the 
point  a  long  time,  observing  this  singular  phe- 
nomenon. At  length  it  began  to  be  pretty  warm 
there  ;  for  the  narrow  tongue  of  land  which  pro- 
jected so  far  between  the  two  currents  was  ex- 
posed to  the  sun,  wiiich  had  now  risen  so  high 
that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  heat  in  his  rays. 

So  they  set  out  on  their  return  home.  On  the 
way  back  they  walked  a  considerable  distance 
through  the  fields  and  gardens.  They  went  into 
them  from  the  path  along  the  shore,  through  one 
of  the  open  gates,  and  they  went  back  to  the  path 
again  by  another. 


108  R  0  L  L  0   IX    Geneva. 

MoMt  B.'v.r.  '-goUifr  out."  A  J>eautifnl  ^peetsda. 


Chapter    VIII. 
Seeing    Mont    Blanc    go    out. 

"  Father,"  said  RoUo  to  Mr.  Holiilay,  at  din- 
ner  one  day,  "  wliat  arc  you  going  to  do  this 
CYorjing  ?  " 

"  We  arc  going  to  see  Mont  Blanc  go  ojit,*' 
said  lii?  fat])cr. 

^fr.  Holiday  answered  Rollo  in  French,  n>inpj 
a  jthrase  very  eonnnon  in  Geneva  to  denote  the 
tjradiial  fading  away  of  the  rosy  light  left  n])on 
^lont  Blanc  hy  the  setting  snn  :  for  the  sun,  just 
at  the  time  of  its  setting,  gilds  tlie  inoujitain  with 
a  peculiar  rosy  light,  as  if  it  were  a  cloud.  Tln\s 
light  gradually  fades  away  as  the  sun  goes  down, 
until  the  lower  })art  of  the  mountain  l)econ)03  of 
a  dead  and  ghostly  white.  Avliilc  the  roseate  huo 
still  lingers  on  the  summit,  as  if  the  top  of  Ihi* 
mountuiw  were  ti})]>eil  with  tlanie.  These  hi^l 
beams  finally  disappear,  and  theii  the  whole  CX' 
pause  of  snow  assumes  a  deathlike  and  wintry 
whiteness.  The  inliabitants  of  Gerieva,  and  those 
vrho  live  in  the  environs,  ofien  go   »>ul    to   their 


Seeing  Mont  Blanc  go  out.  109 


The  various  points  of  view  The  shore;  tho  lake. 


gardens  and  summer  houses  in  the  summer  even- 
ings, just  as  the  sun  is  going  down,  to  see,  as  they 
express  it.  Mont  Blanc  go  out ;  *  and  strangers 
Tftlio  visit  Geneva  always  desire,  if  they  can,  to 
witness  the  spectacle.  There  are,  however,  not 
a  great  many  evenings  in  the  year  when  it  can  be 
witnessed  to  advantage,  the  mountain  is  so  often 
enveloped  in  clouds. 

Rolio  had  lieard  the  phrase  before,  and  he  knew 
very  well  what  his  father  meant. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  in  a  tone  of  satisfaction ; 
"  and  may  1  go  too  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father  ;  "  we  should  like  to 
have  you  go  very  much.  But  there  is  a  question 
to  be  decided  —  how  we  shall  go.  The  best  point 
of  view  is  somewhere  on  the  shore  along  the  lake, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  bridge.  There  are  three 
ways  of  going.  We  can  walk  across  the  bridge, 
and  then  follow  the  road  along  the  shore  till  vv'C 
come  to  a  good  place,  or  we  can  take  a  carriage, 
and  oj'der  the  coachman  to  drive  out  any  wheio 
into  the  neighborhood,  where  there  is  a  good  view 
of  the  mountain,  or  we  can  go  in  a  boat." 

"  In  a  boat,  father !  "  said  Rollo,  engerly.  *'  Let 
us  go  in  a  boat !  " 

''The  oljjection  to  tli-at."  i^aid  Mr  Holiday,  "is, 
rliat  it  is  more  trouble  to  go  and  engage  a  ])oat. 

•  Ibe  phrase  is,  in  Freuch,  Pour  voir  le  Mont  Blatic  s'eieindre, 


110  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 


Rollo  uudrt-takee  to  j^et  a  l)oat.  Embarking 

There  arc  plenty  of  carriages  here  at  ilie  verj 
door,  and  I  can  have  one  at  a  moment's  notice, 
by  just  holding  up  my  finger.'' 

"  And,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  so  there  are  plenty 
of  boats  right  down  here  by  the  quay,  and  I  can 
get  one  of  them  in  a  moment,  just  by  holding  up 
my  finger." 

"  Well."  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  we  will  go  in  a 
boat  if  vou  will  take  all  the  trouble  of  engaging 
one." 

Rollo  liked  nothing  better  than  this,  and  as 
soon  as  dinner  was  over  he  went  out  upon  the 
quay  to  engage  a  boat,  while  his  father  and 
mother  went  up  to  their  room  to  get  ready  to  go. 

Rollo  found  plenty  of  boats  at  the  landing. 
Some  of  tlicm  were  very  pretty.  He  chose  one 
which  seemed  to  have  comfortable  seats  in  it  for 
his  father  and  mother.  It  was  a  boat,  too,  that 
had  the  American  flag  flying  at  the  stern.  Some 
of  the  boatmen  get  American  flags,  and  raise 
tliem  on  their  boats,  out  of  compli»  jcnt  to  their 
numerous  American  customers. 

Soon  after  Rollo  had  engaged  the  boat,  hi? 
father  and  mother  came,  and  they  all  embarked 
on  board.  Tlie  boatman  rowed  tliera  off  froui 
the  shore.  The  sun  was  just  going  down.  There 
were  a  great  many  boats  plying  to  and  fro  about 
the  lake,  and  tiie  quays  and  the  little  islet  wer« 
crowded  with  people. 


Seeing   iMont   Blanc  go  out.  Ill 

I?oatiiis  iipou  the  T-ake  of  GenovH. 

After  rowing  about  a  quarlcr  of  a  mile,  ilie 
boatman  brought  the  range  of  the  Alps  into  full 
view  through  an  opening  between  the  nearer  hills. 
The  sun  was  shining  full  upon  them,  and  illumi- 
nating them  with  a  dazzling  white  liglit,  very 
beautiful,  but  without  any  rosy  hue. 

"They  don't  look  rosy  at  all/'  said  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  not  now.  They  do 
not  take  the  rosy  hue  till  the  sun  has  gone  down." 

Tlie  boatman  rowed  on  a  little  farther,  so  as  to 
obtain  a  still  better  view.  Mr.  and  ^Irs.  Holiday 
watched  the  mountains  ;  but  Rollo  was  more  in- 
terested in  the  scene  immediately  around  him. 
He  watched  the  boats  that  were  plying  to  and  fro 
over  the  surface  of  the  lake,  and  the  different 
})arties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  them.  He 
gazed  on  tlie  quays,  too,  all  around,  and  on  the 
islet,  which  was  not  far  off,  and  on  the  people 
that  he  saw  there,  some  walking  to  and  fi-o,  and 
others  leaning  over  the  parapet  and  looking  out 
u{:on  the  water. 

"  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  '*  see  if  there  is  a 
rudder." 

"  Yes,  father,  there  is,"  said  Rollo.  So  saying, 
be  climbed  over  the  seats,  between  his  fatlier  and 
mother,  and  took  his  place  by  the  rudder. 

"Steer  us,  then,  over  to  the  opposite  shore, 
wherever  you  see  there  is  a  pleasant  place  IG 
land." 


112  RoLLO   IN   Geneva, 

The  traveller!*  meet  a  party  of  friends. 

Rollo  ^Q.s  glad  and  sorry  both  to  receive  thia 
command.  lie  was  glad  to  have  tlie  plcabure  of 
Bloering,  but  ho  was  sorry  tliat  his  father  intend- 
ed to  land,  lie  would  have  prefcried  remaining 
out  upon  tlie  water. 

He,  however,  obeyed  his  father's  command,  and 
feieered  towai-ds  the  farther  sliore,  turning  the 
head  of  the  boat  in  an  oblique  direction,  a  little 
way  up  the  lake.  Presently  Mr.  Holiday  saw 
t<()!ne  friends  of  his  in  a  boat  that  was  coming  in 
tlie  npjjo.-ile  direction.  lie  ordered  Rollo  to  steer 
towards  them.  Ivollo  did  so,  and  soon  the  boats 
came  alongside.  The  oarsmen  of  botli  boats 
.=«lopped  rowing,  and  llic  two  parties  in  them 
came  to  a  parley. 

Thcie  was  a  little  girl  in  the  other  boat,  named 
Lucia.  There  was  no  other  child  in  that  boat, 
and  so  there  was  nobody  foi-  Lucia  to  play  with. 
Lucia  therefore  asked  her  father  and  mother  to 
allow  her  to  get  over  into  Mr.  Holiday's  boat,  so 
that  she  could  have  somebody  to  play  with. 

"Why,  Lucia,"  said  her  mother,  "Rollo  is  a 
yreat.  boy.     He  is  too  big  to  play  with  you.'' 

''  1  know  it,"  said  Lucia  ;  *'  but  then  he  is  bettei 
tlinn  nobody." 

Rollo  might  ]ierliaps  have  been  made  to  feel 
Bomewhat  piqued  at  being  considered  by  a  young 
lady  as  only  better  than  nobody  lor  a  companion, 


Seein'g   Mont   Blanc    go   out.  113 


A  new  pasfi^nser.         K,.!lu  cxitlHimUj;  tlie  fudde.  to  Luclli.^ 

had  it  not  been  for  the  nature  of  the  ohjectloiu 
which  was  mly  that  ho  was  too  large,  ^o  he  f(;lt 
complimented  rather  than  otherwise,  and  lie  cor- 
dially seconded  Lucia's  wisli  that  she  might  bo 
transferred  to  his  father's  boat,  and  at  lengtli  her 
mother  consented.  Lucia  stepped  carefully  oveT 
the  gunwales,  and  thus  got  into  Mr.  Holiday's 
boat.  She  immediately  passed  along  to  the  stern, 
and  look  her  place  by  the  side  of  RoUo  at  the 
rudder.  The  boats  then  separated  from  each 
other,  and  each  went  on  its  own  way. 

"  What  is  this  handle,''  said  Lucia,  "  that  you 
are  taking  hold  of  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  tiller,"  said  Rollo. 

"  And  what  is  it  for  ?  "  asked  Lucia. 

"  It  is  the  handle  of  the  rudder,"  said  Rollo. 
"  The  rudder  is  what  we  steer  the  boat  by,  and 
the  tiller  is  the  handle  of  it.  The  rudder  itself 
is  dovfn  below  the  water." 

So  Hollo  let  Lucia  look  over  the  end  of  tiiO 
boat  and  see  the  rudder  in  the  water. 

Rollo  then  proceeded  to  explain  the  operation 
of  the  rudder. 

"  You  see,"  said  he,  "  that  when  I  move  the 
tiller  over  this  way,  then  the  head  of  the  hoat 
turns  the  other  way  ;  and  wlieu  1  move  it  ovei* 
that  way,  then  the  head  of  thf  boat  come^^  rouml 


114  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

Wood  yarda  upon  the  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Oenera. 

tliis  way.  The  head  of  the  boat  always  goes  the 
coDtrary  way." 

"I  don't  see  wliy  it  should  go  the  contrary 
way,"  said  Lucia.  "  I  should  think  it  ouglit  to  go 
the  same  way." 

"No,"  replied  Rollo  ;  "it  goc3  the  contrary 
way.  And  now  I  am  going  to  steer  to  a  good 
place  to  land  on  the  shore  over  there." 

So  saying,  Rollo  pointed  to  tlie  shore  towards 
which  the  boat  was  going. 

The  boat  was  now  drawing  near  the  shore. 
There  was  first  a  landing,  where  several  small 
vessels  were  drawn  up,  and  immense  piles  of 
wood  in  great  wood  yards. 

Tliis  wood  liad  a  very  singidar  appearance. 
The  bark  was  all  off,  and  the  ends  of  the  loga 
looked  rounded  and  worn,  as  if  they  had  been 
washed  in  the  water.  The  reason  was,  that  the 
wood  had  grown  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains, 
and  had  l)ecn  bronght  down  to  the  lake  by  the 
torrents  which  ])0ur  down  the  mountain  sides  with 
great  force  in  time  of  rain. 

"We  won't  land  in  the  wood  yaids — will 
wc?  •'  said  Rollo. 

•'  Xo,"  said  Lucia  ;  "but  there's  a  pretty  place 
to  huul  a  little  farther  on." 

So  saying,  Lucia  j)ointed  to  a  very  pretty  part 
of  the  shore,  a  little  farther  on.     There  seemed 


Seeijjg  Uonn  Blajjc  go  out.  115 

g-R'iss  poIiteties3.  Exploring  for  a  laiidlng-i-lace^ 

to  be  a  garden,  and  a  little  green  lawn^  with  large 
trees  overshadowing  it ;  and  at  one  place  there 
was  a  projecting  point  where  there  was  a  summer 
house  with  a  table  in  it,  and  a  seat  outside,  near 
ilie  beach,  under  a  bower. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  that  is  a  very  pretty 
place  ;  biA  it  looks  like  private  ground.  I  think 
we  must  not  land  there." 

As  the  boat  glided  by  this  place,  llollo  and 
Lucia  saw  some  ladies  and  gentlemen  sitting  iu 
the  summer  house.  The  gentlemen  took  off  their 
hats  and  bowed  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  as  they 
passed  by. 

Next  the  boat  came  to  a  place  where  there  was 
a  low  parapet  wall  along  the  shore,  and  behind 
it  were  to  be  seen  the  heads  of  a  number  of  men 
who  seemed  to  be  sitting  at  tables,  and  drinking 
coffee  or  beer. 

"  Here  is  a  good  place  to  land,"  said  Lucia. 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  ''  this  seems  to  be  some  sort 
of  public  place,  full  of  men*  We  had  better  go 
a  little  farther.^' 

So  Rollo  steered  on,  keeping  all  the  time  at 
just  a  safe  distance  from  the  shore.  The  water 
was  most  beautifully  transparent  and  clear,  so 
that  all  the  pretty  stones  and  pebbles  on  the  bot- 
lorn  could  be  seen  very  distinctly  at  a  great  depth, 

**  What  pretty  water  I  "  said  Lucia. 


116  KOL  LO     FN     G  EN  fi  V  A  . 

Wby  the  water  v.as  t le.ir.  A  ;.le!i«ant  !a-.dit)ft 


"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  *•  it  is  so  clear.'- 

"  VvHiat  makes  it  so  clear?  "  a.sked  l.uoin. 

"  Because  the  lake  is  so  long,"  said  KoUo,  "  nii J 
this  is  tlie  lower  end  of  it,  and  the  water  lias  time 
to  settle.  At  the  other  end,  wliere  the  water 
CMines  in,  it  is  not  so  clear.  This  is  the  cud  where 
the  water  runs  out."  * 

A  moment  afterwards  they  came  to  a  very 
pleasant  handing,  at  a  place  wliere  the  road  lay 
pretty  near  the  water.  Between  the  road  and 
the  water,  however,  there  was  a  s])ace  of  green 
grass,  with  large  trees  overshadowing  it,  and  sev- 
eral wooden  settees,  j)ainted  green,  under  the 
trees. 

"  Ah  I  said  Rollo,  "  here  is  just  the  }»lace 
for  us. 

"Father,"  he  added,  "do  you  think  it  would  be 
a  good  plan  to  lantl  here?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  lather  ;  "  we  could  not  have 
had  a  better  place.  I  thought  yon  would  lind  a 
pleasant  landing  for  us  if  1  gave-  von  the  com- 
mand." 

So  Rollo  brought  the  boat  uj)  to  the  shore,  and 
lliey  all  got  out.  Mr.  nnd  Mrs.  Holiday  walked 
up  and  took  their  scats  on  one  of  the  settees, 
while  Rollo  and  Lucia  began  to  run  about  and 
play  along  the  parapet  wall  which  separated  the 
Urouienudc  from  the  water 


SEEINM7    Mont  Blaxc   go   out.  117 

Thv  heA'1  of  Moi;r  Ji?:«nr.  The  heads  of  the  ir.iys  swimming* 

Mr.  and  Mrs!  Holiday  watclied  tlic  mountains. 
The  sisii  Ivtid  now  just  gone  down,  tliongh  his 
beams  still  tipped  the  summits  of  th.e  hills,  and 
were  reflected  from  the  windows  of  the  dielant 
houses.  The  snow  on  the  mountains,  too  began 
to  assume  a  very  beautiful  rosy  hue,  which  in- 
creased in  brilliancy  the  farther  the  sun  went 
down,  and  the  more  the  lower  lands  became 
darkened. 

"  How  beautiful  it  is  1  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"It  is  very  beautiful  indeed,"  said  her  husband. 

"  Rollo,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  look  at  Mont 
Blanc.     See  how  bright  and  rosy  he  looks." 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  look  out  on 
the  lake,  and  see  the  heads  of  those  tv#o  boys 
swimming  in  the  w^ater." 

"  Are  tliose  the  heads  of  boys  ?  "  asked  Mrs 
Holiday. 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  see  how  far  they 
are  sv^^imming  out." 

When  Mrs,  Holiday  looked  back  at  the  moun- 
tain, she  found,  to  her  great  disappointment,  thiit 
the  rosy  color  which  had  appeared  so  beautiful  a 
moment  before  had  now  disappeared  ;  and  the 
whole  snowy  side  of  the  range,  up  to  the  summits 
of  the  loftiest  peaks,  was  of  a  cold,  dead  white, 
as  if  the  rays  of  the  sun  had  been  entirely  wUh 
drawn. 


Ii8  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

The  magnincfint  sunsvt.  ITie  ^aldta. 

"All!  look!''  slic  said  to  Mr.  Holiday,  in  a 
tone  of  dipappointnicnt  ;  "  ^lont  Blanc  lias  gone 
out  while  we  have  been  looking  anothj^r  way." 

i\Ir.  Holiday  gazed  intently  at  the  mountain, 
and  TCTY  soon  he  saw  the  rosy  tint  beginning  to 
appear  again  on  one  of  the  summits,  more  brilliant 
than  ever. 

•*  No,"  said  he,  "  tlic  sun  has  not  gone.  I 
thought  it  could  not  have  gone  down  so  soon. 
There  must  have  been  a  cloud  in  the  way." 

While  Mr.  Holiday  had  been  speaking,  the 
rekindling  of  the  mountain  had  gone  on  apace, 
and  now  the  whole  side  of  it  was  all  in  a  glow. 

Just  at  this  instant  Rollo  heard  Ihe  sound  of  a 
gun.     Lucia  started  and  looked  alarmed. 

**  What  is  that  gun  ?  "  said  Rollo;  *'  and  where 
was  it?     Lot  us  look  for  the  smoke." 

So  Rollo  and  Lucia,  leaning  over  the  parapet, 
began  to  look  nil  about  aniong  the  boats  and 
vessels  of  the  lake,  and  along  the  opposite  shore, 
in  the  direction  from  which  the  sound  of  the 
rcpoi't  had  seemed  to  come,  and  very  soon  their 
eyes  rested  upon  a  volume  of  blue  smoke  which 
was  ascending  from  the  bows  of  a  little  vessel 
that  had  just  come  in,  and  was  lloating  off  grace* 
fully  into  the  air. 

"  It  is  that  vessel  that  has  just  got  in,"  said 
Hollo. 


Seeing   Mont  Blanc  go  out.  Hi' 

Mont  Blanc  in  the  sunset.  The  Swiss  child  at  play. 

"Rollo,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "look  at  the 
mountaiu." 

RoUo  turned  his  eye  for  a  moment  towards  the 
mountain.  All  the  lower  part  of  it  was  of  a 
cold  and  deathlike  whiteness,  while  the  tip  of 
the  summit  was  glowing  as  if  it  had  been  on  fire. 
He  was,  however,  too  much  interested  in  the 
smoke  of  the  gim  to  look  long  at  the  mountain. 

"  Kark  !  "  said  he  to  Lucia  ;  "  let  us  see  if  tliey 
will  not  fire  again." 

They  did  not  fire  again  ;  and  just  as  Rollo 
began  to  give  up  expecting  that  they  would,  liis 
attention,  as  well  as  that  of  Lucia,  was  attracted 
to  a  little  cliild  wlio  was  playing  with  a  small 
hammer  in  the  gravel  not  far  from  where  they 
were  standing.  The  mother  of  the  child  was 
sitting  on  a  bench  near  by,  knitting.  The  ham- 
mer was  small,  and  the  claw  of  it  was  straight 
and  flat.  The  child  was  using  it  for  a  hoe,  to 
dig  a  hole  in  the  gravel. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo,  "  if  I  could  find  a  shingle 
any  where  about  here,  I  would  make  that  cliild  a 
shovel  to  dig  with." 

Rollo  looked  about,  but  there  wai*  nothing  lika 
a  shingle  to  be  seen. 

In  a  few  minutes  his  father  called  him. 

"  Rollo,"  said  he,  "  we  are  going  back.  Mont 
Blanc  has  gone  out.     See !  " 


1 20  R  0  L  L  0   IN    Geneva. 

Retnriiiiit:  to  the  batel.  The  baml  of  mnsic  on  the  islet 

Rollo  looked.  He  saw  that  the  last  lingering 
rays  of  the  sun  had  gone  from  tlic  summit  of  the 
iuountain,  though  they  still  gilded  a  small  rounded 
cloud  that  lloated  just  above  it  in  the  sky. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo.  "  TU  go  and  call  the 
boat." 

"  We  are  not  going  back  in  the  ooat,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday  ;  "  we  have  concluded  to  walk  round  by 
land,  and  over  the  bridge.  It  will  be  better  for 
Lucia  to  go  with  us  ;  but  you  may  do  as  you 
please.  You  may  walk  with  us,  or  go  in  the 
boat  witli  the  boatman.'' 

Rollo  at  lirst  thought  that  he  should  jtrefcr  to 
go  in  the  boat ;  but  he  finally  concluded  to  accoin- 
j)any  his  father  and  mother.  So  the  whole  party 
returned  together  by  a  ])leasant  road  whirh  led 
through  a  vilhige  by  the  shore. 

When  they  eame  out  to  the  quay  they  heard  a 
band  of  mu.«^io  playing.  The  Inmd  was  stationed 
un  tlie  little  islet  which  has  already  been  de- 
scribed. The  party  stopped  on  the  bridge  to 
listen  ;  at  least  ^Ir.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  listened, 
but  Rollo  and  Lucia  occupied  themselves  the 
while  in  looking  down  in  the  clear  depths  of  the 
water,  whieh  was  running  so  swiftly  and  so  bbie 
luMieatli  the  jiiers  of  the  bridg(\  and  watching  to 
vre  if  they  could  see  any  fishes  there.  Lucia 
•Jiou^iht  at  one  lime  that  she  suw  one  ;  hut  Rollc^ 


SEEixfi   Moxi   Blanc  go   out.  121 

What  Rollo  tlioiight  of  the  sunset. 

on  examining  tlie  spot,  said  it  was  only  a  liUk 
crovice  of  tlie  rock  wiggling. 

"  Wliat  makes  it  wiggle?  '^  asked  Lucia. 

"  The  little  waves  and  ripples  of  the  ciirreiit," 
said  Rollo. 

When  Rollo  reached  the  hotel,  a  gcnllcman 
who  met  the  party  in  the  hall  said  to  him, — 

"  Well,  Rollo,  have  you  been  to  see  Mont 
Blanc  go  out  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  And  how  did  you  like  it  ? ''  said  iliQ  gen- 
tleman. 

"  I  liked  it  very  much  indeed,"  said  Rollo  *'  J 
think  it  was  Bublime." 


^.a^^^Ste^ 


122  RoLLO    IN    Gene^ta. 


Rollo  reminds  bis  father  of  his  promise  to  take  a  sail 


Chapter    IX. 
A  Law   Question. 

"  Now,  father,"  said  Rollo,  one  evening,  as  lie 
^as  sittinp:  at  the  window  with  h\>  father  nnd 
mother,  looking  out  upon  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Rhone,  tliat  were  shooting  fo  swiftly  under  the 
bridges  beneath  the  windows  of  the  hotel,  "  you 
pronn?;ed  me  tliat  you  would  take  as  long  a  sail 
on  the  lake  with  me  as  1  wished.'' 

"  Well,"  said  his  fatlior,  "  I  acknowledge  the 
promise,  and  am  ready  to  ])erform  it." 

"  When  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"At  any  time,"  said  his  father. 

"  Then,  father,  let  us  go  to-morix)w,"  said  Rollo. 
"  We  can't  go  to-night,  for  I  am  going  so  far  that 
it  will  take  all  day.  I  am  going  to  the  farther 
end  of  the  lake." 

"  Very  well,"  said  hid  father  ;  "  I  said  I  would 
take  af^  long  a  sail  as  you  wished." 

"And  I  will  go  this  evening  and  engage  a  sail 
boat,"  said  Rollo,  "so  as  to  have  it  uil  ready." 

There  was  always  quite  a  little   Iluot  of  sail 


A   Law    Question.  123 


Ed  gaging  a  boat.  is  travolliug  in  a  steamboat  sailing  ? 


boats  and  row  boats  of  all  kinds  lying  near  tlig 
principal  landing  at  tlie  quay,  ready  for  excur- 
Bions.      Rollo's  plan  was  to  engage  one  of  these. 

"  No/'  said  his  father  ;  "  we  will  not  take  a  sai! 
l)Oat ;  we  will  take  a  steamboat."' 

Besides  the  sail  boats  and  row  boats,  there 
were  a  number  of  large  and  handsome  steamboats 
plying  on  the  lake.  Tliere  were  two  or  three 
that  left  in  the  morning,  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock,  and  then  there  were  one  or  two  at  noon 
also.  Those  that  left  in  the  morning  had  time  to 
go  to  the  farther  end  of  tlie  lake  and  return  tlie 
same  day  ;  while  tliose  that  left  at  noon  came 
back  the  nest  morning.  Thus,  to  see  tlie  lake,  you 
could  go  in  the  forenoon  of  one  day,  and  come 
back  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same,  or  you  could 
ro  in  the  afternoon  of  one  day,  and  come  back  in 
the  ifiorning  of  the  next. 

"  Whicii  W'juM  vou  do  ?  "  said  Mr.  Holiday  to 
Rollo. 

"  But,  father,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  think  it  would  be 
pleasanter  to  go  in  a  sail  boat.  Besides,  you  said 
that  you  would  take  me  to  a  sail  ;  and  going  m  a 
Etcamboat  is  not  sailing." 

"  What  is  it  doing?  "  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"Steaming,"  said  Rollo.  "A  steamer  does  not 
sail  in  any  sense." 

Mr.  Holiday  smiled  and  then  paused.     He  was 


124  R  0  L  L  0      I  X      G  E  N  E  T  A 


RcftMring  a  qnestioTi  to  iin  unijiii-c 


reflecting,  apparently,  npon  what  Rollo  liad  bi.'en 
Baying. 

''Then,  besides,"  said  Rollo,  "don't  you  think, 
fatlier,  it  would  be  pleasanter  to  go  in  a  sail 
boat?" 

"  The  first  question  is."  said  Mr.  Ilolidny, 
*' whether  I  am  bound  by  niy  promise  to  go  with 
you  in  a  sail  boat,  if  you  pn*(er  it.  1  said  1  would 
take  you  to  a  sail.  Would  taking  you  in  a  steam- 
boat be  a  fulfilment  of  that  promi^^  ?  Suppose 
we  refer  the  question  to  an  umpire,  and  see  how 
he  will  decide  it." 

"Yes;  but,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  if  you  tliiuk 
it  is  best  to  go  in  the  steamer.  I  should  not  insist 
uj)on  the  sail  boat,  by  any  means  ;  so  it  is  not 
necessary  to  leave  it  to  any  umpire.  I  w  ill  givo 
it  up." 

*'  I  know  you  would  bo  willing  to  giM'  it  ii[»," 
said  Mr.  Holiday;  "but  then  we  may  as  well 
first  ascertain  how  the  case  actually  stands.  Let 
us  (iist  determine  what  the  promise  I  ii. ds  me  to. 
if  it  <loes  not  bind  me  to  go  in  a  sail  boat,  then  it  is 
all  light  ;  tlieie  will  be  no  need  of  any  gi\iiig  u|>. 
If.  (Ml  the  other  luuid.  my  promise  iUtrti  bind  mc 
to  LTo  in  a  sail  boat,  then  you  will  consider  whether 
you  will  release  me  from  it  or  not,  if  I  ask  it. 
Besides,  it  will  amuse  us  to  have  the  question 
resruljvb.    dcrid'MJ  :    and    it  will    also   bo  a   irnoi) 


A   Law    Q  t:  hbirt  o^.  125 


RoWo  ;iuJ  liis  Ifitlief  settling  ;'.  hi.v  (]n5sticu. 


le{5son  for  you,  in  teaching  you  to  think  and  speak 
with  |)rcci;)ion  wh<3n  you  make  jiromiscs,  and  to 
draw  exact  lines  in  respect  to  the  performanco 
of  them." 

"Well,  sir,'*  said  Rollo  ;  "who  shall  be  the 
liiupirc?  '^ 

"Mr.  Hall/*  said  his  father.  "  ITo  is  down  in 
the  diniDg  room  now,  taking  ten." 

Mr.  Hall  was  a  lawyer,  an  acquaintance  of 
Mr.  Holiday's,  whom  he  had  accidentally  met  at 
Geneva. 

"  He  is  a  lawyer/*'  gaid  Mr.  Holiday,  "  and  he 
will  be  a  very  good  um])ire." 

"  Is  it  a  law  question  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Not  exnctly  a  law  qucf^tion,"  said  Mr.  Holi- 
day, "  but  all  such  questionri  require  for  an  umpire 
a  man  who  is  accustomed  to  think  precisely. 
That  is  their  very  business.  It  is  true  that  there 
arc  a  great  many  oth.er  men  besides  lavryers  who 
tiiink  precisely  ;  and  there  are  some  lawyers  who 
*Jiink  and  reason  very  loosely,  and  come  to  hasty 
nu<l  incorrect  conclusions.  Still,  you  ai-e  more 
likr;ly  to  get  a  good  opinion  on  sucli  a  i-ubject 
fi'om  a  lawyer  than  from  other  men  taken  at  I'an- 
3om.  So,  if  you  please,  you  may  go  down  and 
jlate  the  question  to  Mr.  Hall,  and  1  ''•'■'  •  '  '-^ 
Oy  ids  decision." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  wilL" 


126  ^  0  t.  L  0   I  :v    G  E  ^^  fi  r  A 


lii'J  ii;  frtir  w;\yn  of  yint\nz  n  ']fir.'!t;cti. 


*'  Only,''  ?aid  3Ir.  Holiday,  "  you  must  suite  tlifi 
quo.^tiuii  fairly.  V>riys  generally,  ^vl!('M  tiioy  jro 
to  state  a  question  of  this  kind  in  whicji  liii'y  i»io 
interested,  state  it  very  unfairly." 

"  ITow,  for  iiistnnce?"  asked  Rollo. 

*'  Why,  s]i})pose."  said  Mr.  Ilolidsiy.  "thnl  yoi 
were  to  .iro  to  Mr.  Hall,  and  say, '  Mr.  11  all.  fatlici 
promised  ma  that  he  would  take  me  out  on  a  sail 
upon  the  lake,  a?  lar  as  1  wanted  to  go,  and  don't 
you  think  he  ought  to  do  it?'" 

Rollo  lauglied  heartily  at  thi?  mode  of  putting 
the  (picstion.  *'  Yet^,"  said  he,  "  that  sounds  ex 
actly  lik(*  a  hoy.  And  what  wouhl  he  a  fair  way 
of  stating  it  ?  '' 

"A  fair  way  would  he,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  ''to 
preyent  the  simple  (juestion  it.vcjf,  witluuit  anr 
reference  to  your  own  interest  in  it,  and  without 
any  indication  whatever  of  your  own  wish  or 
opinion  in  respect  to  the  decision  of  it;  ns,  for 
example,  thus:  'Mr.  Hall,  1  have  a  question  to 
ask  you.  ISupjiose  one  person  promis(\s  another 
that  he  will  take  him  out  to  sail  on  the  lake  on  a 
certain  day  ;  then,  when  the  day  comes,  (he  prom- 
h'Cr  ))roposes  to  go  in  the  steamboat.  Would 
that  he  a  good  fulfdment  of  the  pronnse,  or  not  ?'•' 

•*  Well,  sir,"  said  UnWo,  "  I  will  state  it  so." 

8o  Kolh)  went  (h)wn  <[aiis  into  the  dining 
room.     Tlieie  were  vuiinus  parties  there,  seat  •({ 


A   Law    Question.  127 

What  the  lawyer  said.  Kollo  speaks  unadviRedly. 

at  tlie  different  tables.  Some  wei-c  takiiig  tea 
some  were  looking  at  maps  and  guide  books,  and 
fe'ome  discussing  the  plan  of  their  tours.  One  of 
tlie  sofas  had  half  a  dozen  kna])sackL5  upon  it, 
vvliich  belonged  to  a  party  of  pedestrians  that 
had  just  come  in. 

RoUo  looked  about  the  room,  and  presently 
saw  Mr.  Hall,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  sitting 
at  a  table  near  a  window.  He  went  to  him,  and 
stated  the  question. 

The  lawyer  heard  Rollo  attentively  to  the  end, 
and  then,  instead  of  answering  at  once,  0,  yes, 
or  0,  no,  as  Rollo  had  expected,  he  seemed  to 
stop  to  consider. 

"That  is  quite  a  nice  question,"  said  Mr.  Hall. 
"  Let  us  look  at  it.  The  point  is,  whether  an 
excursion  in  a  steamboat  is  a  sail^  in  the  sense 
intended  by  the  pxomise." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo ;  "  that  is  tlie  point  ex- 
actly.    I  think  it  is  not ;  father  thinks  it  is." 

The  instant  that  these  words  were  out  of  Rollo'a 
mouth  he  was  sorry  that  ^e  had  spoken  them  ;  for 
by  speaking  them  he  had  furnished  an  indication 
to  the  umpire  of  what  his  own  opinion  and  his 
own  interests  were  in  respect  to  the  decision, 
which  it  never  is  fair  to  do  in  such  a  case,  whei/ 
the  other  party  is  not  present  to  express  his  views 
ard  advocate  his  interests.  The  words  once 
spoken,  however,  could  not  be  recalled. 


128  R  0  L  L  0    I  X    Geneva. 

Argiiini;  tlie  rase.  The  i  i^lit  rules  lor  inlciTretirsr  contractu. 


"  Stcamljoats  are  certainly  not  propelled  by 
Bails,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  bnt  yet  "we  often  a])piy 
tiie  word  sailing  to  tliem.  We  say,  for  iiistan«  e, 
fiat  a  certain  steamer  will  sail  on  such  or  sii  h 
Q  day.  So  we  say,  There  was  do  news  from  sue' 
0/  such  a  place  when  tlie  steamer  sailed." 

"But  it  seems  to  me,"  said  Rollo,  *' tliat  th«; 
question  is  not  what  people  call  it,  but  wliat  it 
really  is.  The  going  of  a  steamboat  is  certainly 
not  sailing,  in  any  sense." 

It  was  quite  ingenious  ar<ruing  on  Rollo'spau. 
it  must  be  acknowledged  ;  but  then  it  was  wholly 
out  of  order  for  him  to  argue  the  question  at  all. 
Ho  should  have  confined  himself  strictly  to  a 
siii'ple  statement  of  the  point,  since,  as  his  father 
was  not  j)resent  to  diTcnd  /lis  side  of  the  question, 
it  was  obviously  not  fair  that  Hollo  should  urire 
and  advocate  his. 

"It  midit,  at  first  view,"  said  Mr.  Hall,  •' >t'e?n 
to  be  as  you  say,  and  that  the  question  would  be 
solely  what  the  steamer  actually  does.  Ibit,  on 
reflection,  yo\i  will  see  that  it  is  not  exactly  so. 
('ontract,-^  and  promises  arc  made  in  language ; 
iiid  ill  making  them,  people  use  language  as  other 
■jcoplc  use  it,  and  it  is  to  be  interpreted  in  thai 
wi\y.  For  instance:  suppose  a  lodging-houso 
keeper  in  the  country  should  agree  to  furninh  a 
lady  a  room  in  the  summer  where  the  sun  did  not 


A    T.  A  w    Question.  129 


Mr.  Hall  decides  in  favor  of  tlie  sail  boat. 

come  in  at  all,  and  then  should  give  her  one  on  the 
Boulh  side  of  the  house,  which  was  intolerably  hot, 
and  should  claim  that  he  had  fulfilled  his  agree- 
ment because  the  sun  did  not  itself  come  into  the 
room  at  all,  but  only  shone  in  ;  that  would  not  be 
a  good  defence.  We  nmst  interpret  contracts  and 
promises  according  to  the  ordinary  use  and  cus- 
tom of  people  in  the  employment  of  language. 

"Still,"  said  ^Mr,  Hall,  "although  we  certainly 
do  ap{)ly  the  sim{)le  term  sailing  to  a  steamer,  I 
Iiardly  think  that  a  trip  in  a  steamer  on  a  regu- 
lar and  established  route  would  be  called,  accord- 
ing to  the  ordinary  and  established  use  of  lan- 
guage, taking  a  sail.  Was  that  the  promise  — 
that  one  party  would  go  with  the  other  to  fake  a 
sail  on  the  lake?  " 

"Yes,  sir."  said  Rollo  ;  "he  promised  to  go 
and  take  a  sail  with  me  on  the  lake,  as  far  as  I 
wanted  to  go." 

"Then,"  said  Mr.  Hall,  "  I  should  thii.k.on  the 
whole,  that,  in  such  a  place  as  this,  where  tiiere 
are  so  many  regular  sail  boats,  and  wiiere  excur- 
Bions  on  the  lake  in  them  are  so  common  and  so 
veil  recognized  as  a  distinct  amuseriient,  the 
jihrase  taking  a  sail  ought  to  be  held  to  mean 
going  in  a  sail  boat,  and  that  making  a  voyage  in 
a  steamer  would  not  be  fuHilling  tlie  promise  " 

Rollo  was  extremely  delighted  in  having  thiia 

d 


130  Roi.  LO   IN    Geneva. 

Rollo  and  his  father  compare  the  ailvaiitages  of  the  stejunhoat  ai  d  sail  bosi 

gained  his  case,  and  he  went  back  to  report  the 
result  to  his  father,  in  a  state  of  great  exultation. 

After  communicating^  to  his  father  the  decision 
of  the  umpire,  Rollo  said  that,  after  all,  he  di  ] 
not  wish  to  go  in  a  sail  boat  if  his  father  ihouglit 
it  best  to  .iro  in  a  steamer. 

*'  Well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, ''  that  depends  upon 
how  far  we  go.  It  is  pleasant  enough  to  go  out 
a  short  distance  on  tlie  water  in  a  sail  boat,  but 
for  a  long  excursion  the  steamer  is  generally  con- 
sidered much  pleasantcr.  In  a  sail  boat  you  are 
down  very  low,  near  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  so  you  have  no  commanding  views.  Then 
you  have  no  shelter  either  from  the  sun,  if  it  is 
clear,  or  from  the  rain,  if  it  is  cloudy.  You  are 
closely  confined,  too,  or  at  least  you  can  move 
about  only  a  very  little  ;  whereas  in  the  steamer 
there  is  plenty  of  s])ace,  and  there  arc  a  great 
many  groups  of  people,  and  little  incidents  arc 
constantly  occurring  to  amuse  you." 

"  Besides,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "  if  you  go  in  the 
steamer,  I  can  go  with  you." 

"  Why,  mother,  could  not  you  go  in  a  sail  boat 
loo?" 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday;  'I  am  afraid  of 
sail  boats." 

"0  mother!"  said  Rollo;  "there  is  not  anj 
danger  at  all." 


A   Law    Question.  131 

»  • 

The  dangers  of  sailing.  >lt>llo  engages  a  boat. 

"  Yes,  Eollo,"  said  bis  father,  "  there  is  some 
danger,  for  sail  boats  do  sometimes  upset." 

"  And  steamboats  sometimes  blow  up,''  said 
Bollo. 

"  True,''  said  his  father  ;  "  but  that  only  show3 
tliat  there  is  danger  in  steamboats  too — not  that 
there  is  no  danger  in  sail  boats." 

"  Well,  what  I  mean,"  said  Rollo,  "  is,  that 
there  is  very  little  danger,  and  that  mother  has 
no  occasion  to  be  afraid." 

"  There  is  very  little  danger,  I  grant,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday  ;  "  but  there  is  just  enough  to  keep  ladies, 
who  are  less  accustomed  to  the  water  than  we 
are,  almost  all  the  time  uneasy,  and  thus  to  de- 
stroy for  them  the  pleasure  of  the  excursion. 

'Til  tell  you  what  I  think  will  be  the  best 
plan.  You  and  I  will  go  out  and  take  a  little 
sail  to-night  on  the  lake  in  a  sail  boat,  and  motlier 
may  stay  and  watch  us  from  the  Y/indow,  as  she 
reads  and  sews.  Then  to-morrow  we  will  go 
togetlier  to  make  an  excursion  on  the  lake," 

Rollo  liked  this  plan  very  much  indeed,  and 
his  father  sent  him  down  to  the  landing  to  engage 
(lie  boat.  "I  will  come  down,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
"  ))y  the  time  you  get  ready." 

So  Rollo  went  down  and  engaged  a  boat.  It 
was  rigged,  as  all  the  boats  on  the  Lake  of  Ge- 
neva are^  with  what  are  called  lateen  sails.    Hij 


132  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

RoUo  and  his  father  tn  the  lake.  The  si^ata. 

father  soon  came  dowu,  and  they  immediately 
embarked  on  board  the  boat,  and  sailed  awuT 
from  the  landing.  *As  the  boat  moved  away 
Rolb  waved   his   handkerchief    to   his   mothir 


whom  he  saw  sitting  on  the  balcony  of  the  hotol 
saving  hers  to  him. 

Rollo  and  his  lather  sailed  about  the  hike  foi 


A     L  A  w     Vi  U  W  S  T  I  0  N 


!33 


sir.  Il.sjwkiy'sa-.couiit  of  the  tri{ 


nearly  an  hour.  Mr.  Holiday  said  it  was  one  of 
tiie  pleasautest  sails  be  ever  iiad  in  his  life,  and 
that  he  was  very  glad  indeed  that  Mr.  Hall  de- 
cided against  him. 

He  gave  RoUo's  mother  a  full  account  of  the 
excursion  when  he  got  home. 

"  Tiie  water  was  very  smooth,"  said  he,  "  and 
the  air  was  cool  and  balmy.  There  was  a  gentle 
breatfi  of  wind,  just  enough  to  float  us  smoothly 
and  quietly  over  the  water.  We  had  charming 
views  of  the  town  and  of  the  shores  of  the  lake, 
and  also  of  the  stupendous  ranges  of  snow-cov- 
erc'i  mountains  beyond.'' 


134  R  0  1.  L  0   IN   Geneva 


How  to  plan  excursions  among  the  Alps. 


Chapter    X. 
An   Excursion  on   the   li^KE. 

The  Lake  of  Geneva  is  shaped,  as  has  already 
oecn  said,  like  the  new  moon.  One  of  the  horna 
is  towards  the  west ;  tlie  other  is  towards  the 
south.    Geneva  is  at  the  tip  of  tlie  western  horn. 

Of  course,  in  sailing  from  Geneva  to  the  other 
end  of  the  lake,  we  go  from  the  west  towards  the 
east ;  and  this  renders  it  ratlier  more  agreeable 
to  make  the  excursion  by  an  afternoon  boat  than 
by  a  morning  one ;  for  in  the  afternoon,  the  sun, 
being  then  in  the  western  ])art  of  the  sky,  will  be 
behind  you,  and  so  will  not  shine  in  your  face ; 
but,  instead  of  shining  in  your  face  and  dazzling 
your  eyes,  it  will  be  shining  upon  and  illuminat- 
ing brilliantly  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  that 
you  are  going  to  see.  In  other  words,  in  tlio 
morning  the  mountains  are  in  shadow  and  the 
h'un  in  your  eyes;  in  the  evening  your  eyes  are 
shaded,  and  the  mountains  glow  with  brilliancy 
and  beauty. 

It  is  often  very  important  to  take  notice  thus 


An    ElCtJRStON    ON    THE    LaKK.    135 

w.- ■ ■ — * 

A  8.:ene  on  the  quay  ol  Geneva. 

of  the  manner  in  which  the  sun  shines  in  ditrcrcnt 
parts  of  the  day,  in  planning  excursions  among 
tlie  Alps. 

The  middle  of  the  day  is  a  rery  exciting  nnd 
:vnimating  time  on  the  quay  at  Geneva.  It  is 
then  that  the  boats  which  left  the  other  end  of 
the  Like  in  the  morning  are  expected  to  arrive  ; 
und  a  great  concourse  of  porters,  guides,  postil- 
ions, and  bystanders  of  all  sorts  assemble  to 
receive  the  travellers.  As  the  boats  come  in,  it 
is  very  amusing  to  sit  on  the  balconies,  or  at  the 
windows  of  the  hotels  which  overlook  the  quay, 
and  watch  the  procession  of  tourists  as  tliey  come 
over  the  plank  to  land.  There  are  family  groups 
consisting  of  fathers,  mothers,  and  children,  fol* 
lowed  by  porters  bearing  immense  trunks,  white 
they  themselves  are  loaded  with  shawls,  cloaks, 
umbi-ellas,  and  carpet  bags  ;  and  parties  of  stU' 
dents,  with  all  their  travelling  eifects  in  knap- 
sacks on  their  backs  ;  and  schoolboys  who  have 
been  making  a  tour  of  the  Alps  with  their  teacher  j 
and  young  brides,  almost  equally  proud  of  their 
husbands,  of  the  new  dignity  of  tlicir  own  posi- 
tion, and  of  the  grandeur  of  an  Alpine  bridal 
tour.  All  the^e  people,  and  tlie  hundreds  of  speo 
tators  that  assemble  to  see  them,  fdl  the  quay, 
and  form  a  very  animated  and  exciting  spectacle. 

When  the  time  approaches  for  a  boat  to  sail. 


13G  ROLLO   IK    Ge^^eta 


fr«tp1icrt,  porters,  snil  soldiers.  Eftilrafildng:, 

wliich  is  in  half  an  hour  after  she  arrives,  we 
have  a  counterpart  of  this  scene,  the  direction  of 
the  current  only  being  reversed.  Tiie  tourists 
DOW  go  to  the  boat,  the  porters,  with  tl;eir  bag- 
gage, preceding  them.  A  soldier  stands  at  tho 
entrance  to  the  plank,  to  look  at  the  passports. 
Lines  of  officials  on  each  side  guard  the  way. 
On  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  as  soon  a.**  you  get 
on  board,  you  hnd  a  great  variety  of  }-ictiiresque 
looking  groups,  all,  however,  iiaving  llic  air  of 
being  travellers  for  pleasure,  ^ome  arc  arranging 
themselves  in  good  j'cats  for  seeing  the  scenery. 
Others  take  oat  their  maps  and  guide  books,  and 
fjrepare  to  rcafl  the  descriptions  of  t)ic  i)]acear 
that  lliey  arc  going  to  see.  Here  and  tliere  chil 
ben  are  to  l)e  seen  —  the  boys  with  little  knap 
sat'ks,  and  llie  girls  wearing  very  broad-brimmed 
Swiss  l)nts — neither  paying  any  attention  to  the 
scenery,  but  amusing  themselves  with  whatever 
tliey  lijid  at  band  to  play  with  —  one  with  a  little 
/og.  another  with  a  doll  which  has  been  bought 
\':n  her  at  (ieneva,  and  a  third,  perhaps,  >viih  a 
■^vhip.  or  a  liltle  >vagon. 

K(dh)  took  his  seat  by  the  side  of  his  father 
nritl  motlier,  in  the  mid.-t  of  smh  a  scene  as  this, 
(»n  tlio  day  of  their  cmbaikation,  and  occupied 
liiin.-clf  soniclimes  by  looking  at  the  shores  of 
tlic  lake  and   the  mountains  beyond,,  and  some 


An   Excursion   on   the   Lake.  131 

IjandiDg  ]>iisMenger!<  by  bo.ita. 

times  by  watcliing  tlio  movements  and  actions  of 
the  var',ou8  gronp^r  of  tourists  before  liini.  In 
Uic  mean  time,  t!ie  boat  left  the  landing,  and  be- 
gan to  glide  along  rapidly  on  her  way  over  the 
surface  of  the  water. 

The  shores  of  the  lake  are  very  fertile  and 
c<;pulous,  and  at  every  eight  or  ten  miles,  espe- 
cially on  the  northern  shore,  you  come  to  a  large 
town.  The  steamboats  stop  at  these  towns  to 
take  and  leave  passengers.  They  do  not,  in  such 
cases,  usually  land  at  a  pier,  but  tlie  passengers 
come  and  go  in  large  boats,  and  meet  the  stcam.cr 
at  a  little  way  from  the  shore.  Rollo  used  to 
take  great  pleasure  in  going  forward  to  the  bows 
of  the  steamer,  and  watcli  these  boats  as  they 
can)e  out  from  the  shore.  If  there  were  t-v\o  of 
t'lCm,  they  would  come  out  so  far  that  the  track 
of  the  steamer  should  lie  l^etween  them,  and  then, 
when  the  steamer  sto])pe(l  her  paddles,  they  would 
come  up,  one  on  one  side  and  the  other  on  the 
other,  arid  tlie  passengers  would  come  up  on  boai-d 
by  means  of  a  iliglit  of  steps  let  down  from  the 
steamer,  just  abaft  the  paddle  boxes.  When  the 
passcn,::rrs  had  thn?^  come  u]),  the  baggage  would 
be  passed  up  too  ;  a  '«d  then  those  passengers  who 
wished  to  go  ashore  at  that  place  would  go  down 
the  steps  in  the  boats,  and  when  all  were  em- 
barke«l  the  boats  woul(^  cast  oS  fi<>m  the  steamer. 


1»B8  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

How  tln»y  collect  the  fares  on  the  Swiss  Btwmior. 

and  the  steamer  would  go  on  her  way  as  before. 
The  boats  then  would  roTr  slowly  to  the  land, 
with  the  passengers  in  them  tliat  were  to  stop  at 
that  place. 

The  way  oi  paying  :o\  one  s  passage  on  bjard 
these  boats  was  very  different  from  that  adopted 
in  America.  Tliere  was  no  colored  waiter  to  go 
about  the  decks  and  saloons  ringing  a  bell,  and 
calling  out,  in  a  loud  and  authoritative  voice, 
Pas.-engers  who  haven't  settled  their  fare  will 
please  call  at  the  captain's  office  and  settle.  In- 
stead of  this,  the  clerk  of  the  boat  came  himself, 
after  each  hinding,  to  the  new  passengers  that 
had  come  on  board  at  that  landing,  and,  toucliing 
his  hat  to  them,  in  the  most  polite  manner,  asked 
them  to  what  place  tlnw  wished  to  go.  He  had  a 
little  slate  in  his  hand,  with  the  names  of  all  the 
towns  where  the  steamer  was  to  touch  marked 
U})on  it.  As  the  several  passengers  to  whom  he 
applied  gave  him  tlie  name  of  '.he  place  Oi  thi^r 
destination,  he  made  a  mark  opposite  to  the  name 
of  the  place  on  his  slate.  When  he  had  in  this 
way  applied  to  all  the  new  comeis,  he  went  to 
the  office  and  provided  himself  with  the  proi»cr 
number  of  tickets  for  each  place,  and  then  went 
rouni  again  to  distribute  them.  In  going  around 
thus  a  second  time,  to  distribute  the  tickets,  he 
took  a  cash  iiox  with  him  to  make  change.     Thia 


An    E  X  c  u  r  s  I  o  x   o  n   the   Lake.  1 39 


Why  we  c/iuW  Qot  do  so  in  America. 


cash  box  was  slung  befo)-e  him  bv  means  of  a 
Btrap  about  the  neck. 

"  How  much  more  polite  and  agreeable  a  mode 
tlii?  is  of  collecting  the  fares,"  said  ^Irs.  Holiday 
t(»  her  husband,  "  than  ours  in  America !  There  a 
boy  comes  around,  dinging  a  bell  in  every  bodj'a 
ears,  and  then  the  gentlemen  have  to  go  in  a 
crowd  and  elbow  their  way  up  to  the  window  of 
the  captain's  office.  I  wish  we  could  have  some 
of  these  i>olitc  and  agreeable  customs  introduced 
into  our  couritry." 

*'  They  are  very  agreeable,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
"  and  are  very  suitable  for  pleasure  travel  like 
thip.  whei-e  the  boats  are  small,  and  the  number 
of  passengers  few  ;  but  I  presume  it  would  be 
very  difficult  to  collect  the  fares  in  this  way  on  a 
North  River  steamer,  where  there  are  sometimes 
a  thoiisand  passengers  on  board.  Here  there  are 
usually  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  passengers 
that  come  on  board  at  a  time,  and  they  mix  with 
only  fifty  or  sixty  that  were  on  board  before. 
But  in  America  we  often  have  fifty  or  sixty  come 
on  board  at  a  time,  and  they  mix  with  eight  hun- 
dred or  a  tliousand.  In  such  a  case  as  that  1 
think  that  this  plan  would  be  well  nigh  impr£X> 
ticable." 

"  I  did  not  riiink  of  that,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"The  diflercnce  between  tlie  circumstances  of 


140  Hollo   in    Geneva 


Tho  differe.ice  I^tween  the  travelling  farilities  here  Bnd  in  Switzt-rland. 


the  case  in  Europe  and  in  America  is  very  often 
not  tliought  of  by  travellers  wlio  find  themselves 
wishing  that  the  European  customs  in  respect  to 
travelling  and  the  hotels  could  be  introduced 
into  our  country.  In  Europe  the  number  of  trav- 
ellers is  comparatively  small,  and  a  very  large 
proportion  of  those  who  make  journeys  go  for 
pleasure.  The  arrangements  can  all,  conse- 
quently, be  made  to  save  them  trouble,  and  to 
make  the  journey  agreeable  to  them  ;  and  the 
price  is  increased  accordingly.  In  America,  peo- 
ple travel  on  business,  and  they  go  in  immense 
numbers.  Their  main  object  is,  to  be  taken  safely 
and  expeditiously  to  the  end  of  their  journey,  and 
at  as  little  expense  as  possible.  The  arrange- 
ments of  the  conveyances  and  of  the  hotels  are 
all  made  accordingly.  The  consequence  is,  a  vast 
difference  in  the  expense  of  travelling,  and  a  cor- 
responding ditTorence,  of  course,  to  some  extent, 
in  case  anil  comfort.  The  price  of  passage,  for 
instance,  in  tlie  Geneva  steamboats,  from  one  end 
of  the  lake  to  the  other,  a  distance  of  about  fifty 
miles,  is  two  dollars,  without  berth  or  meals; 
whereas  you  can  go  from  New  York  to  Albany, 
which  is  more  than  three  times  as  far,  for  half  a 
doHar.  This  dilTerence  is  owing  to  the  number 
of  travellers  that  go  in  the  American  boats,  and 
the  wholesale  character,  so  to  speak,  of  the  arrange 
ment5  nuule  for  them. 


An   Excursion   on  the  Lake.  141 


How  tar  shall  Wb  go?  Lausa::ne.  Oucby. 

"  In  other  words,  the  passengers  in  a  public 
conveyance  in  Europe  are  not  only  conveyed 
from  place  to  place,  but  they  are  waited  upon  by 
tlic  way,  and  they  have  to  pay  both  for  tlie  con-' 
voyance  and  the  attendance.  In  America  they 
are  only  conveyed,  and  are  left  to  wait  upon  them- 
Belvcs  ;  and  they  are  charged  accordingly.  Each 
plan  is  good,  and  each  is  adapted  to  the  wants 
and  ideas  of  the  countries  that  respectively  adopt 
them." 

'•  Shall  we  go  to  the  end  of  the  lake  to-day  ?  " 
said  Mr.  Holiday,  ''or  only  part  of  the  way? 
The  clerk  will  come  pretty  soon  to  ask  us." 

"  Are  there  any  pretty  places  to  stop  at  on  the 
way  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  husband  ;  "  all  the  places  are 
pretty." 

*'Tell  us  about  some  of  them,"  said  Rollo. 

"  First  there  is  Lausanne,"  said  his  father 
"  Lausanne  is  a  large  town  up  among  the  hills,  a 
mile  or  two  from,  the  water.  There  is  a  little 
port,  called  Ouchy,  on  the  shore,  where  the  steamer 
stops'..  There  there  is  a  landing  and  a  pier,  and 
some  pretty  boarding  houses,  with  gardens  and 
grounds  around  them,  and  a  laj-ge,  old-fashioned 
inn,  built  like  a  castle  of  the  middle  ages,  but 
kept  very  nicely.  We  can  stop  there,  and  go  up 
in  an  omnibus  to  Lausanne,  which  is  a  large,  old 
tovvn,  two  miles  up  the  side  of  the  mountain. 


142  RoLLO   IS    Geneva. 

Vevay.  Tin-  I'luty  (k-ciile  tv  land  at  Oachj. 

"Then,  secondly,"  continued  Mr. Holiday, "tliere 
IS  Vevay,  which  is  famous  for  a  new  and  fa?li ion- 
able  hotel  facing  the  lake,  with  a  beautiful  ter- 
race between  it  and  the  water,  where  you  can  sit 
on  nice  benches  under  the  trees,  and  watch  the 
steamers  going  by  over  the  blue  waters  of  the 
lake,  or  the  row  boats  and  sail  boats  coming  and 
going  about  the  terrace  landing,  or  the  fleecy 
clouds  floating  along  the  sides  of  the  dark  moun- 
tains around  the  head  of  the  lake." 

"  I  should  like  to  stop  at  both  places,''  said 
Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Then  we  will  stop  at  Ouchy  to-night,"  said 
Mr.  Holiday,  "for  that  comes  first.'' 

So  it  was  decided  that  they  should  take  tickets 
for  Ouchy. 

The  boat  at  Ouchy  did  not  land  passengers  by 
boats,  but  went  up  to  the  pier.  Only  a  few  pas- 
6cn,i2:ors  went  ashore.  The  pier  was  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  hotel,  the  way  to  it  being  by  a 
quiet  and  pleasant  walk  along  the  shore. 

There  was  an  omnibus  marked  Lausanne  stand- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  pier. 

"Now,  wc  can  get  into  the  omnibus,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday,  "and  go  directly  u|)  to  Lausanne,  or  we 
can  go  to  the  hotel  hero,  and  take  lodgings,  and 
then  go  up  to  Lausanne  to  .<ec  ihc  town  after 
diiiucr." 


An   Excursion'   on   thp:   Lake.  143 

The  women  porters.  The  old  iun  at  Ouchy. 

It  was  at  tliis  time  al)Oiit  four  o'clock.  Tho 
asual  time  of  dinner  for  travellers  in  Switzerland 
is  five. 

Mrs,  Holiday,  observing  that  the  hotel  at 
Ouchy  was  very  prettily  situated,  close  to  l!ie 
water,  and  recollecting  that  her  husband  had 
said  that  it  resembled  in  its  character  a  castle  ot 
the  middle  ages,  concluded  that  she  would  like  as 
well  to  take  rooms  there. 

A  woman  with  a  queer-shaped  basket  on  her 
back,  which  she  carried  by  means  of  straps  over 
her  shoulders,  here  came  up  to  Mr.  Holiday,  and 
asked  if  she  should  take  the  baggages  to  the  inn. 
Mr.  Holiday  said  yes.  So  she  put  the  valise  and 
the  carpet  bag  into  her  basket,  and  walked  away 
with  them  to  the  inn. 

Women  often  act  as  porters  in  France  and 
Switzerland,  and  they  perform,  also,  all  sorts  of 
out-door  work.  They  use  these  baskets,  too,  very 
often,  for  carrying  burdens.  Rollo  afterwards 
Faw  a  woman  take  her  child  out  to  ride  in  one 
of  them. 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  extremely  pleased  with  the 
inn  at  Ouchy.  She  said  that  she  should  like  to 
remain  there  a  week.  It  seemed  precisely,  with 
its  antique-looking  rooms,  and  long  stone  paved 
corridors,  like  the  castles  whicli  she  had  road 
about  when  she  was  a  ^\v\  in  the  old  romances- 


144  RoLLO   IN    Geneva 


Riding  into  ibe  country.  Loni  Byron's  room. 

After  dinner,  Mr.  IJoliday  sent  for  a  carriage, 
and  took  Mrs.  Holiday  and  Rollo  to  ride.  They 
went  up  the  ascent  of  land  behind  the  town,  the 
road  winding  as  it  went  among  green  and  beauti- 
ful glades  and  dells,  but  still  always  ascending 
until  they  came  to  Lausanne.  This  was  nearly 
two  miles  from  the  lake,  and  very  much  above  it. 
From  Lausanne  they  went  back  still  farther, 
ascending  all  the  time,  and  obtaining  more  and 
more  commanding  views  of  the  lake  at  every 
turn. 

When  the  sun  went  down,  they  turned  their 
faces  homeward.  They  came  down,  of  course, 
very  fast,  the  road  winding  continually  this  way 
and  that,  to  make  tlio  descent  more  gradual.  At 
length,  about  half  past  ciglit,  they  returned  to 
the  inn. 

The  landKidy  of  tlie  inn,  who  was  very  kind 
and  obliging  to  thorn,  took  them  to  see  a  room  in 
her  hotel  wliere  Lord  Byron  wrote  his  celebrated 
poem  entitled  the  Puisonku  of  Chiixon'.  Chil- 
Ion  is  an  ancient  castle  which  stands  on  the  shore, 
twenty  or  tliiity  mih.^s  beyond,  and  very  near,  in 
fact,  to  the  exti*cmity  of  the  hike.  Byron  has 
made  tliis  castle  renowned  throughout  the  world 
by  spending  a  few  days,  while  he  was  stopped  at 
this  inn  at  Ouchy  by  a  storm,  when  travelling  on 
tlie  lake,  in  writing  a  poem  in  which  he  describes 


An  Excursion   on  the   Ijake.  145 

The  Castle  o''  Chilioo.  Dcsci  iptiwa  of  the  head  of  the  lake. 

tlie  emotions  and  sufferings  of  some  imaginary 
prisoners  v  liom  he  supposed  to  be  confined  there. 

"Can  we  go  to  see  the  Castle  of  Chillon?" 
said  Mrs.  Holiday, 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "We  shall  sail 
directly  by  it  in  going  to  the  head  of  the  lake, 
and  if  we  stop  there  we  can  go  to  it  very  easily.'' 

The  head  of  the  lake  —  that  is,  the  eastern  end 
of  it  —  is  surrounded  with  mountains,  the  slopes 
of  which  seem  to  rise  very  abruptly  from  the 
water,  and  ascend  to  such  a  height  that  patches 
of  snow  lie  on  the  summits  of  them  all  the  sum- 
mer. These  mountains,  especially  if  overshad- 
owed by  clouds,  give  a  very  dark  and  sombre 
expression  to  the  whole  region  when  seen  from  a 
distance,  in  coming  in  from  the  centre  of  the  lake. 
This  sombre  expression,  however,  entirely  disap- 
pears when  you  arrive  at  the  head  of  the  lake, 
and  land  there. 

You  would  not  suppose,  when  viewing  these 
shores  from  a  distance,  that  there  was  any  place 
to  land,  so  closely  do  the  precipitous  slopes  of  tlie 
mountains  seem  to  shut  the  water  in.  But  on 
drawing  near  the  shore,  you  see  that  there  is  a 
])retty  broad  belt  of  land  along  the  shore,  whicli, 
though  it  ascends  rapidly,  is  not  too  steep  to  be 
cultivated.  This  belt  of  land  is  covered  with 
villages,  hamlets,  vineyards,  orchards,  and   gar 

10 


146  li  o  L  L  o    IN    Geneva. 

The  Itx-Htiou  and  appeMrnnce  of  the  Cast  If  of  (liilUm 

dens,  and  it  forms  a  most  enchanting  penes  of 
landscapes,  from  whatever  point  it  is  seen,  while 
the  more  precipitous  slo])es  of  tlie  mountains,  tf.w- 
Cling  above  in  grandeur  and  sublimity  complcto 
(he  enchantment  of  the  view. 

The  Castle  of  Chillon  stands  on  the  rcry  mar- 
g-in  of  the  lake,  just  in  the  edge  of  the  water. 
Indeed,  the  foundations  on  which  it  stands  form 
a  little  island,  which  is  separated  by  a  narrow 
channel  from  the  shore.  This  channel  is  crossed 
by  a  drawbridge.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  it 
may  be  in  some  measure  artificial.  The  island 
may  have  originally  been  a  small  rocky  point, 
and  it  may  have  been  made  an  island  by  the  cut- 
ting of  a  ditch  between  it  and  the  main  land. 

The  steamer  passed  along  the  shore,  very  nea** 
to  this  castle,  in  going  to  the  head  of  the  lake,  a.-j 
you  see  represented  in  the  engraving.*  There  is 
no  steamboat  landing  at  the  castle  itself,  but  there 
is  one  at  the  village  of  Montreux,  a  little  before 
you  come  to  it,  and  another  at  Villencuve,  a  little 
beyond.  lumbers  of  tourists  come  in  every 
Fteamer  to  visit  the  castle,  and  stop  for  this  pur- 
pose at  one  of  these  landings  or  the  other.  Tlie 
distance  is  only  twenty  minutes'  brisk  walkini.' 
fiom  either  of  them. 

Villencuve,  ti»e  hist   landing  mentioned  abcNe 

•    Sff  }•  rotit.Npii.'fe. 


An  Exctrsion   on   the   Lake,  in 


Olijccts  of  interest  to  tiniridts  at  tin;  hciul  of  the  lake. 

is  at  the  very  extremity  of  tlic  lake.  We  see  it 
in  the  distance  in  the  eiigraving.  Here  travellers 
\?ho  are  going  to  continue  their  journey  up  the 
valley  of  the  Rlione,  either  for  the  purpose  of 
penetrating  into  the  heart  of  Switzerland,  or  of 
going  by  the  pass  of  the  Siniplon  into  Italy,  leave 
the  boat  and  take  the  diligence  to  continue  their 
journey  by  land,  or  else  engage  a  private  car- 
riage, and  also  a  guide,  if  they  wish  for  one.  Mr. 
Holiday  did  not  intend  at  this  time  to  go  on  far 
up  the  valley,  but  he  purposed  to  siop  a  day  or 
two  at  Yilleneuve,  to  visit  Chillon,  and  perhaps 
make  some  other  excursions,  and  also  to  enjoy  the 
views  presented  there,  on  all  sides,  of  the  slopes 
ard  summits  of  the  surrounding  mountains. 


148  RoLLO   IN   Genev 


Tho  pier  of  ViUeneuve.  The  inn.  The 


Chapter    XI. 

ViLLENEUVE. 

At  Villcneuve,  a  pretty  long,  tliough  small  and 
very  neatly  made  pier  projects  out  from  the  shore, 
for  the  landing  of  passengers  from  the  steamer. 

Exactly  opposite  this  pier,  and  facing  the  water, 
stands  the  inn.  It  is  placed  very  nearly  on  a 
level  with  the  water.  This  can  always  be  the 
case  with  buildings  standing  on  the  margin  of  a 
lake,  for  a  lake  not  being  subject  to  tides  or  inun- 
dations, all  buildings,  whether  liouses.  bridges,  or 
piers,  may  be  built  very  near  the  water,  without 
any  danger  of  being  overflowed. 

Before  the  inn  is  an  open  space,  extending  be- 
tween it  and  the  shore;  so  that  from  the  front 
windows  of  the  inn  you  can  look  down  first  upon 
this  0})en  space,  and  beyond,  upon  the  margin  of 
the  lake  and  upon  the  pier,  with  the  steamer 
lying  at  the  landing-place  at  the  head  of  it. 

The  sides  of  this  square,  Rollo  observed,  were 
foinied  of  the  ends  of  two  buildings  which  stood 
on  the  shore,  and  along  tliis  space  were  wooieu 


y  I  L  L  E  N  E  U  V  E  .  14t* 

The  tourists  landing  at  Villeneuro. 

benches,  which  were  filled,  when  the  steamer 
arrived,  with  guides,  postilions,  voituriers,  and 
other  people  of  that  class,  waiting  to  be  engaged 
by  the  travellers  that  should  come  in  her. 

There  were  also  two  or  three  omnibuses  and 
diligences  waiting  to  receive  such  persons  as 
were  intending  to  travel  by  the  public  convey- 
ances. One  of  these  omnibuses  belonged  to  a 
large  hotel  and  boarding  house  which  stands  on 
the  shore  of  the  lake,  not  far  from  Yilleneuve, 
between  it  and  the  Castle  of  Chillon.  You  can 
see  this  hotel  in  the  engraving.  It  is  the  large 
building  in  the  middle  distance,  standing  back  a 
little  from  the  lake,  and  to  the  left  of  the  castle. 
This  hotel  is  beautifully  situated  in  a  command- 
ing position  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  and  is  a 
great  place  of  resort  for  English  families  in  the 
summer  season. 

The  travellers  that  landed  from  the  steamer  at 
Villeneuve  soon  separated,  after  arriving  at  the 
open  square  before  the  inn.  Some  took  their 
seats  in  the  diligences  that  were  standing  there ; 
some  got  into  the  omnibuses  to  go  to  the  hotel ; 
some  engaged  voituriers  from  among  the  number 
that  were  waiting  there  to  be  so  employed,  and, 
entering  the  carriages,  they  drove  away  ;  while  a 
party  of  students,  with  knapsacks  on  their  backs 
and  pikestaves  in  their  hands,  set  off  on  foot  up 


150  K  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 

What  Rollo  saw  in  the  hi  a.  The  Gcrmau  boy. 

the  valley.  Mr.  Holiday  and  liis  party,  not  io* 
tending  to  proceed  any  fartlier  tliat  niglit,  went 
directly  to  the  inn. 

They  v\'cnt  first  into  the  dining  room.  The 
dining  room  in  the  Swiss  inns  is  usually  the  only 
public  room,  and  travellers  on  entering  the  inn 
generally  go  directly  there. 

The  dining  room  was  very  plain  and  simple  iu 
all  its  arrangements.  There  was  no  carpet  on 
the  floor,  and  the  woodwork  was  unpaintcd. 
There  were  two  windows  in  front,  which  looked 
out  upon  the  lake.  Directly  beneath  the  win- 
dows was  the  road,  and  the  open  space,  already 
described,  between  the  hotel  and  the  ])ior. 

There  was  a  boy  with  a  knapsack  on  his  back 
standing  by  tlie  window,  looking  out.  Rollo 
went  to  the  window,  and  began  to  look  out  too. 

"Do  you  speak  p]nglish  ? "  said  Rollo  to  the 
boy. 

"  JN^'n/i,"  said  the  boy,  shaking  liis  head. 

JVcin  is  the  (ierman  word  for  no.  This  Rollo 
knew  very  well,  and  so  he  inferred  tliat  the  boy 
was  a  German.  ll<\  liowevcr.  thought  it  possi- 
ble that  he  might  speak  Frcnclj,  and  so  he  a^ked 
again,— 

"  Do  you  speak  'French  ?  " 

"  Very  little,"  sai>l  tl»e  boy,  answering  now  in 
iLe  French  language.    '"  1  am  studying  it  at  school 


V  I  L  L  E  N  E  U  V  E  .  151 

The  excursion  of  the  class  of  fitudeots. 

I  iim  at  scliooi  at  Berne,  and  my  class  is  making 
an  excursion  to  Geneva." 

"  Do  you  travel  on  foot  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy  ;  ''  unless  there  is  a  steam* 
bfiat,  and  then  we  go  in  the  steamboat." 

"  And  I  suppose  you  are  going  to  take  the  steam- 
boat here  to-morrow  morning  to  go  to  Geneva." 

"  No,"  said  the  boy  ;  "  we  are  going  to  see 
Chillon  to-night,  and  then  we  are  going  along 
the  shore  ot  the  lake  beyond,  to  Montreux,  and 
take  the  boat  there  to-morrow  morning." 

It  was  quite  amusing  to  Rollo  to  talk  thus  with 
a  strange  boy  in  a  language  which  both  had 
harned  at  school,  and  which  neither  of  thera 
could  speak  well,  but  which  was,  nevertheless,  the 
only  language  tliey  had  in  common. 

"  How  many  boys  are  there  in  your  class?" 
asked  Rollo. 

'•  Sixteen,"  said  the  boy  ;  "  sixteen  —  six."  The 
boy  then  held  up  the  five  fingers  of  one  hand,  and 
one  of  the  other,  to  show  to  Rollo  that  six  was 
Vie  number  he  meant.  The  words  sis  and  six- 
teen are  very  similar  in  tlie  French  language,  and 
for  a  moment  the  boy  confounded  them. 

"  And  the  tcaclier  too,  I  suppose,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "  and  the  teacher." 

Here  there  was  a  short  pause. 

"  Arc  you  goin.c  to  Chillon  ?"  caid  the  noy  tc 
Bollo. 


1 52  R  0  L  L  0   IN    Geneva. 


KoIIo  asks  permission  to  go  to  Chillon  with  the  scholars. 

"  Yes,"  ?aid  Rollo.  "  I  am  going  with  my 
fatlier  and  mother." 

"  I  wisli  you  were  going  with  us,"  said  tlie  lK)y. 

*'  I  wish  so  too,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  mean  to  ask 
my  father  to  let  me." 

During  this  time  Mr.  Holiday  liad  been  making 
an  arrangement  with  the  maid  of  the  inn  for  two 
bedrooms,  one  for  himself  and  his  wife,  and  the 
other  for  Rollo  ;  and  the  maid  was  now  just 
going  to  show  the  party  the  way  to  their  rooms. 
So  Rollo  went  with  his  father,  and  after  seeing 
that  all  their  eflects  were  put  in  the  rooms,  he 
informed  his  father  that  he  had  made  acquaint- 
ance with  a  young  German  schoolboy  who  was 
going  with  his  class  and  the  teacher  to  visit  Chil- 
lon ;  and  he  asked  his  father's  consent  that  he 
might  go  with  them. 

"  I  can  walk  there  with  them,"  said  Rollo,  "and 
wait  tliere  till  you  and  mother  come." 

"  Docs  the  boy  speak  English  ? "  asked  M;. 
Uoliday. 

"No.  sir,"  said  Rollo ;  "but  he  can  speak  French 
Q  little.  He  speaks  it  just  about  as  well  as  1  can, 
tiiid  we  can  get  along  together  very  well." 

'•  Is  the  teacher  willing  that  you  should  nn?" 
asked  Mr.  Holiday. 

"  I  don't  know,''  said  Rollo  :  "  we  havr  not 
abked  him  yet." 


T  I  L  L  E  N  E  U  V  B  .  153 

Asking  the  teacher.  Permission. 

"  Tlieu  tlie  first  thing  is  to  ask  bim,"  said  Mr. 
Holiday.  "  Let  your  friend  ask  the  teacher  if  he 
is  willing  to  have  another  boy  invited  to  go  with 
his  party  ;  and  if  he  is  willing,  you  may  go.  If 
you  get  to  Chillon  first,  you  may  go  about  the 
castle  with  the  boys,  and  then  wait  at  the  castle 
gates  till  we  come." 

"  How  soon  shall  you  come  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"Very  soon,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "I  have 
ordered  the  carriage  already,  and  we  shall  per 
haps  get  there  as  soon  as  you  do." 

So  Rollo  went  down  stairs  again  to  his  friend, 
the  German  boy. 

"  Do  you  think,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  the  teacher 
would  be  willing  to  have  me  go  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "  I  am  sure  he  will.  He 
is  always  very  glad  to  have  us  meet  with  an  op- 
portunity to  speak  French.  Besides,  there  are 
some  boys  in  the  school  who  are  learning  Eng- 
lish, and  he  would  like  to  have  you  talk  a  little 
with  them." 

"  Go  and  ask  him,"  said  Rollo. 

So  the  boy  went  off  to  ask  the  teacher.  He 
mot  him  on  the  stairs,  coming  down  with  the  rest 
of  the  boys.  The  teacher  was  very  much  pleased 
with  the  plan  of  having  an  American  boy  invited 
to  join  the  party,  and  so  it  was  settled  that  RoUq 
was  to  go. 


154  Pt  o  1, 1.  0    T  X    Geneva. 


Reudezvousiu  r.  Politeness  among  the  boj*. 


Tlie  boys  all  went  (.lown  stairs,  and  rcndez- 
roused  at  the  door  of  the  inn.  Most  of  the  oin 
nibiises  and  diligences  had  gone.  The  boys  of 
the  school  all  accosted  Rollo  in  a  very  cordial 
manner  ;  and  the  teacher  shook  hands  with  him, 
and  said  that  he  was  very  glad  to  have  him  joii 
their  party.  The  teacher  spoke  to  him  in  French. 
'J'here  were  two  other  boys  who  tried  to  speak  to 
him  in  English.  They  succeeded  pretty  well,  but 
they  could  not  speak  very  fluently,  and  they  made 
several  mistakes.  But  Rollo  was  very  caieful 
not  to  laugh  at  their  mistakes,  and  they  did  not 
laugh  at  those  which  he  made  in  talking  FriMu-h  ; 
and  so  they  all  got  along  very  well  together. 

Thus  they  set  out  on  the  road  which  led  along 
the  shore  of  the  lake  towards  the  Coiille  of 
Chi'bn. 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    155 


Roll<>  and  the  schoolboys  on  the  pedestrhu  excuisli 


Chapter    XII. 
The    Castle    of    Chillon. 

The  party  of  boys  walked  along  the  road  very 
pleasantly  together,  each  one  with  his  knapsack 
on  his  back  and  his  pikestaff  in  his  hand.  Rollo 
talked  with  them  by  the  way  —  with  some  in 
English,  and  with  others  in  French;  but  inas- 
much as  it  happened  that  whichever  language 
was  used,  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties  to  the 
conversation  was  very  imperfectly  acquainted 
with  it,  the  conversation  was  necessarily  carried 
on  by  means  of  very  short  and  simple  sentences, 
and  the  meaning  was  often  helped  out  by  signs, 
and  gestures,  and  curious  pantomime  of  all  sorts, 
with  an  accompaniment,  of  course,  of  continual 
peals  of  laughter. 

Rollo,  however,  learned  a  good  deal  about  the 
boys,  and  about  the  arrangements  they  made  for 
travelling,  and  also  learned  a  great  many  partic- 
ulars in  respect  to  the  adventures  they  had  met 
with  in  coming  over  the  mountains. 

Rollo  learned,  for  example,  that  every  boy  had 


156  R  0  L  L  0    IX    Geneva. 

The  equipments  of  t^e  l)oys.  Ilutfl  Byron. 

a  fisliing  line  in  liis  knapsack,  and  that  when  they 
got  tired  of  walking,  and  wished  to  stop  to  rest, 
if  there  was  a  good  place,  they  stopped  and  fished 
a  little  while  in  a  mountain  stream  or  a  lake. 

Another  tiling  they  did  was  to  watch  for  but- 
terflies, in  order  to  catch  any  new  species  that 
they  might  find,  to  add  to  the  teacher's  cabinet 
of  natural  history.  For  tliis  })urpo?e  one  of  the 
boys  had  a  gauze  net  on  the  end  of  a  long  but 
light  handle  ;  and  when  a  butterfly  came  in  sight 
that  seemed  at  all  curious  or  new,  one  of  tho 
boys  set  ofi"  with  the  rest  to  catch  him.  If  the 
fipecimen  was  found  valuable,  it  was  preserved. 
The  specimens  thus  kept  were  .secured  with  a  pin 
in  the  bottom  of  a  broad,  but  flat  and  very  light 
box,  which  one  of  the  older  boys  carried  with  his 
knapsack,  'i'ho  l)oy  o]iened  this  box,  and  j^howcd 
Rollo  the  butterflies  which  they  had  taken.  They 
had  quite  a  })retty  collection.  There  were  sev- 
eral that  Kollo  did  not  recollect  ever  to  have 
seen  before. 

Talking  in  this  way,  they  went  on  till  they 
came  to  the  part  of  the  road  which  was  opposite 
to  the  Hotel  Byron.  The  hotel  was  on  an  emi' 
nence  above  tlie  road,  and  back  from  the  lako. 
Broad  gravelled  avenues  led  up  to  it.  There 
were  al>o  winding  walks,  and  seats  under  the 
tiees,  aud  terraces,  and  gardens,  and  parties  of 


The    Castle    of    Chtl]. on.    151 


The  road  to  the  Castk-  of  Chillon.  The  s.-ntiiiel  .it  the  d...  r. 


ladies  and  gentlemen  walkinof  about,  and  cliildiPij 
playing  here  and  there,  iindei-  the  chaj-ge  of  tl-cir 
nurses. 

The  boys  gave  only  a  passing  glance  at  these 
t.iimgs  as  they  went  by.  They  were  much  more 
interested  in  gazing  up  from  time  to  time  at  the 
stupendous  cliffs  and  precip'ices  whicli  they  saw 
crowning  the  mountain  ranges  which  seemed  to 
border  the  road  ;  and  on  the  otlier  side,  in  look- 
ing out  far  over  tlie  water  of  the  lake  at  the  sail 
boats,  or  the  steamer,  or  the  little  row  boats 
which  they  beheld  in  tlie  offing. 

The  road  went  winding  on,  following  the  little 
indentations  of  the  shore,  till  at  length  it  reached 
the  castle.  It  passed  close  under  the  castle  walls, 
or,  rather,  close  along  the  margin  of  the  ditch 
which  separated  the  foundations  of  the  castle 
from  the  main  land.  There  was  a  bridge  across 
this  ditch.  This  bridge  was  enclosed,  and  a  little 
room  was  built  upon  it,  with  windows  and  a  door. 
The  outer  door  was,  of  course,  towards  the  road, 
and  It  was  open  when  the  boys  arrived  at  the 
place. 

The  teacher  led  the  way  in  by  this  door,  and 
the  boys  followed  him.  There  was  a  man  thcre> 
dressed  in  the  unifoim  of  a  soldier.  He  was  a 
sort  of  sentinel,  to  keep  the  door  of  the  castle.  He 
bad  a  table  ou  one  side,  with  various  engT^viug? 


158  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 

Mementoes  for  sale  to  tourist?.         Subterranean  passaiits  ut  the  oasrle. 

gpread  out  upon  it,  representing  different  views 
of  the  castle,  l;otli  of  the  interior  and  of  the 
exterior.  There  were  also  little  books  of  de- 
scription, giving  an  account  of  the  castle  and  of 
its  history,  and  copies  of  Byron's  poem,  the  Pris- 
oner of  Chi'ilon.  All  these  things  were  for  sale 
to  tiie  visitors  who  should  come  to  see  the  castle. 

The  engravings  were  kept  from  being  blown 
(iway  by  the  wind  by  means  of  little  stone  paper 
weights  made  of  rounded  pebble  stones,  about  as 
large  as  the  palm  of  the  hand,  witli  views  of  the 
castle  and  of  the  surrounding  scenery  painted  ou 
them.     The  paper  weights  were  for  sale  too. 

The  boys  looked  at  those  things  a  moment,  but 
did  not  seem  to  |)ay  much  attention  to  them. 
They  walked  on,  following  their  teacher,  to  the 
end  of  the  bridge  room,  where  they  came  to  the 
great  castle  gates.  Tiiese  were  open,  too,  and 
they  went  in.  They  found  themselves  in  a  paved 
courtyard,  with  towers,  and  battlements,  and 
lofty  walls  all  around  them.  There  was  a  man 
there,  waiting  to  receive  them  in  charge,  and 
bIiow  them  into  the  dungeons. 

He  led  the  way  through  a  door,  and  thoncp 
down  a  flight  of  stone  steps  to  a  .-^ries  of  sabtir- 
ranean  chambers,  which  were  very  diudy  lighted 
by  little  windows  opening  towards  the  lake.  The 
back  sides  of  the  rooms  consisted  of  the  living 


The    Castle    of    Chtllon.    150 

The  dungeon.  Tlie  prisoners'  bed.  The  plarc  of  execution. 

rock  ;  tlie  front  sides  were  formeo  of  the  castle 
wall  tliat  ])ordcrcd  the  lake. 

'*  Here  is  the  room,"  said  the  guide,  "  where 
the  prisoners  who  were  condemned  to  death  in 
tlie  ca:3tle  in  former  times  spent  the  last  night 
before  their  execution.  That  stone  was  the  bed 
where  they  had  to  lie." 

So  sayiiig,  the  guide  pointed  to  a  broad,  smooth, 
and  sloping  surface  of  rock,  which  was  formed  by 
the  ledge  on  the  back  side  of  the  dungeon.  Tlio 
stone  was  part  of  the  solid  ledge,  and  was  sur- 
rounded with  ragged  crags,  just  as  they  had  been 
left  by  tlie  excavators  in  making  the  dungeon  ; 
but  whether  the  smooth  and  sloping  surface  of 
this  particular  portion  of  the  rock  was  natural  or 
artiticial,  that  is,  whether  it  had  been  expressly 
made  so  to  form  a  bed  for  the  poor  condemned 
criminal,  or  whether  the  rock  had  accidentally 
broken  into  that  form  by  means  of  some  natural 
fissure,  and  so  had  been  appropriated  by  the  gov- 
fct  noi-  of  the  castle  to  that  use,  the  boys  could  not 
(icterniine. 

The  guide  led  the  boys  a  little  farther  on,  to  a 
place  where  there  was  a  dark  recess,  and  poinl^ 
ing  up  towards  the  ceiling,  he  said, — 

'*  'I'hcre  is  where  the  criminals  were  hung.  Up 
wli^re  I  point  there  is  a  beam  built  into  the  rock; 
and  from  that  the  rope  was  suspended." 


ICn  R  0  L  t,  0     T  X     G  E  K  E  t  A  . 


Wliy  tho  Iniy?  coulil  ii'-.t  se.-  thf  ^Mul>*-t.     Cfiistnicti^n  of  tlio  <!nnire''na 

The  ijoys  all  ci-nwdoil  round  tlio  spot,  niid 
looked  eagerly  up,  but  they  could  not  sec  any 
beam. 

"You  cannot  see  it,"  said  the  guide,  "now,  le- 
cause  you  have  just  come  out  from  the  light  of 
day.  We  shall  come  V>ack  this  way  pretty  soon, 
and  then  you  will  be  able  to  see  it ;  for  your  eyes 
will  then  get  accustomed  a  little  to  the  darkness 
of  the  dungeon." 

So  the  guide  went  on,  and  the  boys  followed 
him. 

They  next  came  into  a  very  large  apartment. 
The  front  side  and  the  back  side  of  it  wore  both 
curved.  The  back  side  consisted  of  the  living 
rock.  The  front  side  was  formed  of  the  outer 
castle  wall,  which  was  built  on  the  rock  at  the 
very  margin  of  the  water.  In  the  centre  was  a 
range  of  seven  massive  stone  columns,  placed 
tlierc  to  support  the  arches  on  which  rested  the 
flour  of  the  principal  story  of  tlie  castle  above. 
The  roof  of  this  dungeon  of  course  was  vaulted, 
the  arches  and  groins  being  carried  over  from 
tliis  range  of  central  pillars  towards  the  wall  in 
.Oont,  and  towards  the  solid  rock  behind.  All 
tliis  you  will  plainly  see  represcnteii  in  the 
'jngraving. 

Tills  gi-eat  dungeon  was  lighted  by  means  of 
very  i-mall  loopholes  cut  in  the  wall,  hich  u|'  from 


TIIK    IH'Nr.KnN    IN    THK    (  A-ii.t.    <n    t  iin.iv 
11 


The    Castle    of    C  h  i  l  l  o  n  .    163 

Curious  effeit  of  reflected  liglit  in  the  duugeon. 

the  floor.  The  light  from  these  windows,  instead 
of  coming  down,  and  shining  upon  the  floor, 
Beemed  to  go  up,  and  to  lose  itself  in  a  faint 
attempt  to  illuminate  the  vaulted  roof  above. 
The  reason  was,  that  at  the  particular  hour  when 
the  boys  made  their  visit,  the  beams  of  the  sud 
which  shone  directly  from  it  in  the  sky  were  ex- 
cluded, and  only  those  that  were  reflected  upward 
from  the  wateis  of  the  lake  could  come  in. 

The  guide  led  the  boys  to  one  of  the  central 
pillars,  and  pointed  to  an  iron  ring  which  was 
built  into  the  stone.  He  told  them  that  there 
was  the  place  where  one  prisoner  was  confined  in 
the  dungeon  for  six  years.  He  was  chained  to 
that  ring  by  a  short  chain,  which  enabled  him 
only  to  walk  to  and  fro  a  few  steps  each  way 
about  the  pillar.  These  steps  had  worn  a  place 
in  the  rock. 

After  the  boys  had  looked  at  this  pillar,  and 
at  the  iron  ring,  and  at  the  place  w^orn  in  the 
floor  by  the  footsteps  of  the  prisoner,  as  long  as 
they  wished,  they  followed  the  guide  on  to  the 
end  of  the  dungeon,  where  they  were  stopped  by 
the  solid  rock.  Here  the  guide  brought  them  to 
a  dark  and  gloomy  place  in  a  corner,  where,  by 
standing  a  little  back,  they  could  see  all  the  pil- 
lars in  a  row  ;  and  he  said  that  if  they  would 
count  them  they  would  find  that  there  were  ex- 


164  RoLLo    IN    Geneva. 

»  — — . __ —  ■ 

The  scTon  pillars.  The  sr.nlcani  in  tho  ihingeonB. 

actly-seven.  The  boys  did  so,  and  tliov  found 
that  tlicre  were  seven  ;  but  they  did  not  under- 
etnnd  why  the  number  was  of  any  importance. 
J5ut  tlie  teacher  explained  it  to  them.  He  said 
tliat  Byron  had  mentioned  seven  as  the  number 
of  the  pillars  in  his  poem,  and  that  most  people 
who  had  read  the  poem  were  pleased  to  observe 
the  correspondence  between  his  description  and 
the  reality. 

The  teacher  quoted  the  lines.  They  were 
these  :  — 

"  In  Chillon's  dungeons,  deep  and  old, 
Tliorc  arc  seven -columns,  massy  and  pray, 
Dim  with  a  d\»ll,  imprisoned  ray  — 
A  sunbeam  that  hath  lost  its  way, 
And  through  the  crevice  and  the  cleft 
Of  the  thick  wall  is  fallen  and  left 
Creeping  o'er  the  floor  so  damp, 
Like  a  marsh's  meteor  lamp." 

In  repeating  these  lines,  the  teacher  spoke  in  a 
strong  foreiirn  accent.  All  the  boys  listened 
attentively  while  he  spoke,  though  of  course  only 
RoUo  and  those  of  the  boys  who  had  studied 
Englisli  could  understand  him. 

After  this  the  boys  came  bavk  through  tho 
whole  range  of  dungeons,  by  the  same  way  that 
they  had  come  in.  They  could  now  see  the  Ijeam 
from  which  the  condemned  criuiinals  were  nung. 
It  passed  across  from  rock  to  rock,  high  al>ovr 


The    Castle    of    C  it  i  l  l  o  n  .    I(]5 

AuotJicr  t;iiide.        l)iike  of  gavoj.        History  of  tlie  Castle  of  Cbillon. 

their  heads,  in  a  dark   and  gloomy  place,  an.^ 
Becmed  perfectly  black  wiih  age. 

When  the  party  came  out  of  the  dungeons,  a 
young  woman  took  them  in  charge,  to  show  thera 
the  apartments  above.  She  conducted  them  up  a 
broad  fliglit  of  stone  stairs  to  a  massive  doorway, 
which  led  to  the  principal  story  of  the  castle. 
Here  the  boys  passed  through  one  after  another 
of  several  large  halls,  which  were  formerly  used 
for  various  purposes  when  the  castle  was  inhab- 
ited, but  are  employed  now  for  the  storage  of 
brass  cannons,  and  of  ammunition  belonging  to 
the  Swiss  government.  When  the  castle  was 
built,  the  country  in  which  it  stands  belonged  to 
a  neighboring  state,  called  Savoy  ;  and  it  was  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  who  was  a  sort  of  king,  that 
built  it,  and  it  was  he  that  confined  the  prisoners 
in  it  so  cruelly.  Many  of  them  were  confined 
there  on  account  of  being  accused  of  conspiring 
against  his  government.  At  length,  however,  the 
war  broke  out  between  Switzerland  and  Savoy, 
and  the  Swiss  were  victorious.  They  besieged 
this  castle  by  an  army  on  the  land  and  by  a  fleet 
of  galleys  on  the  lake,  and  in  due  time  they  took 
it.  They  let  all  the  prisoners  which  they  founrl 
confined  there  go  free,  and  since  then  they  ha\e 
used  the  castle  as  a  place  of  storage  for  arms  and 
ammunition. 


166  K  0  !.  I.  0      IX      G  E  N  E  V  A 


The  senate  ht,u:<f.  AnimunitioQ.  The  toituiinjr  looia. 

One  of  the  halls  which  the  boys  went  into,  the 
guide  said,  used  to  be  a  senate  house,  and  another 
was  the  court  room  where  the  prisoners  were 
tried.  There  was  a  staircase  which  led  from  the 
court  room  down  to  the  dungeon  below,  where 
the  great  black  beam  was,  from  which  they  wero 
to  be  hung. 

The  boys,  however,  did  not  pay  a  great  deal 
of  attention  to  what  the  guide  said  about  the  tbr- 
mer  uses  of  these  rooms.  Tlicy  seemed  to  l)e 
much  more  interested  in  the  {)urposes  that  tlicy 
were  now  serving,  and  so  went  about  examining 
very  eagerly  the  great  biass  cannons  and  tiie 
ammunition  wagons  that  stood  in  them. 

At  length,  however,  they  came  to  something 
which  specially  attracted  their  attention.  It  was 
a  small  room,  which  the  guide  said  was  an  ancient 
toituring  room.  There  was  a  large  wooden  jio.-i 
in  the  centre  of  the  ro(un,  extending  from  the 
floor  to  the  vault  above.  'JMie  j)ost  was  worn  and 
blackened  by  time  and  decay,  and  there  wrio 
various  hooks,  and  staples,  and  pulleys  atta«l,»  l 
to  it  at  ditVeient  heights,  which  the  guide  .«aid 
were  used  for  securing  the  prisoners  to  the  post, 
when  they  were  to  be  tortured.  The  post  itself 
was  l)urned  in  many  places,  as  if  by  hot  irons. 

The  boys  saw  another  place  in  a  i-oom  bcyon<l, 
which  was  in  some  resjtects  still    more   dreadfiJ 


The    C  a  s  t  I.  e    of    C  ii  i  l  l  o  n  .    167 

A  dt-cndful  placf>.  The  ouMiette.  Certe>.  deatb. 

tban  this.  It  was  a  place  where  there  was  an 
(Spelling  in  the  floor,  near  the  wall  of  the  room, 
tl-at  looked  like  a  trap  door.  Tliere  was  the 
Irjginning  of  a  stone  stair  leading  down.  A 
small  railing  was  built  i*ound  the  opening,  as  if 
to  keep  pL^ople  from  falling  in.  The  boys  ail 
crowded  round  the  railing,  and  looked  down. 

They  saw  that  the  stair  only  went  down  thj-ee 
steps,  and  then  it  came  to  a  sudden  end,  and  all 
below  was  a  dark  and  dismal  pit,  which  seemed 
bottomless.  On  looking  more  intently,  however, 
they  could  at  length  see  a  glimmer  of  light,  and 
hear  the  rippling  of  the  waves  of  the  lake,  at,  a 
great  depth  below.  The  guide  said  that  tLIo  t\a9 
one  of  the  aubliettes,  that  is,  a  place  where  men 
could  be  destroyed  secretly,  and  in  such  a  manner 
that  no  one  should  ever  know  what  became  of 
them.  They  were  conducted  to  this  door,  and 
directed  to  go  down.  It  was  dark,  so  that  they 
could  only  see  the  first  steps  of  the  stair.  They 
would  suppose,  however,  that  the  stair  was  con- 
tinued, and  that  it  would  lead  them  down  to  some 
room,  where  they  were  to  go.  So  they  would 
walk  on  carefully,  feeling  for  the  steps  of  tho 
Btair  ;  but  after  the  third  there  would  be  no  more, 
and  they  would  fall  down  to  a  great  depth  oa 
ragged  rocks,  and  be  killed.  To  make  it  certain 
that  they  would  be  killed  by  the  fall,  there  \i  ere 


168  RoLLO    IN    Geneva 


A  strange  combination  of  supei-ctition  and  tyranny. 

sharp  blades,  like  the  ends  of  scythes,  fixed  in  the 
rock,  far  below,  to  cut  them  in  pieces  as  thej  fell. 

It  seems  these  tvrants,  hateful  and  merciless  as 
they  were,  did  not  wish,  or  perhaps  did  not  dare, 
to  destroy  the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  their 
victims,  and  so  they  contrived  it  that  the  last  act 
"which  the  poor  wretch  should  perform  before 
going  down  into  this  dreadful  pit  should  be  an 
act  of  devotion.  To  this  end  there  was  made  a 
little  niche  in  the  wall,  just  over  the  trap  door 
and  there  was  placed  there  an  image  of  the  Vir 
gin  Mary,  who  is  worshipped  in  Catholic  coun« 
tries  as  divine.  The  prisoner  was  invited  to  kiss 
this  image  as  he  passed  by,  just  as  he  began  to 
descend  the  stair.  Thus  the  very  last  moment 
of  his  life  would  be  spent  in  performing  an  act 
of  devotion,  and  thus,  as  they  supposed,  his  soul 
would  be  saved.  What  a  strange  combination  ia 
tins  of  superstition  and  tyranny  1 

After  seeing  all  these  things,  the  boys  returned 
towards  the  entrance  of  the  castle.  They  met 
several  parties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  coming 
in  ;  and  just  as  they  got  to  the  door  again,  the 
carriage  containing  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  drove 
up.  So  Ivollo  bade  the  teacher  and  all  the  boys 
good  by,  after  accompanying  them  a  few  minutes, 
aa  they  walked  along  the  road  towards  the  place 
where  they  were  to  go.     Hy  this  t'uu^  Lis  father 


The    Castle    of    Chillon.    ICt) 

The  littls  island  in  the  lak«.  Byron's  dcsciipiion. 

and  mother  had  descended  from  their  cari*ingo, 
and  were  ready  to  go  in.  So  Rollo  joined  thovn, 
and  went  through  the  castle  again,  and  saw  all 
the  places  a  second  time. 

When  they  came  out,  and  were  getting  into  the 
carriage.  Mr.  Holiday  said  that  it  was  a  very 
interesting  place. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  and  we  have 
seen  all  that  Byron  speaks  of  in  his  poem,  except 
the  little  island.     Where  is  the  little  island  ?  " 

Mr.  Holiday  pointed  out  over  the  water  of  the 
lake,  where  a  group  of  three  tall  trees  seemed  to 
be  growing  directly  out  of  the  water,  only  that 
there  was  a  little  wall  around  them  below.  They 
looked  like  three  flowers  growing  in  a  flower  pot 
set  in  the  water, 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  '^  that  must  certainly 
be  it.  It  corresponds  exactly."  So  she  repeated 
the  following  lines  from  Byron's  poem,  which  de- 
scribes the  island  ijj  the  language  of  one  of  the 
prisoners,  who  saw  it  from  his  dungeon  window 

♦♦And  then  there  was  a  little  isle, 
Which  in  my  very  face  did  smile'— 

The  only  one  in  view  ; 
A  small  gvpcn  isle,  it  seep.icd  no  more, 
Scarce  broader  than  my  dungeon  floor; 
But  in  it  there  were  three  tall  trees, 
And  o'er  it  blew  the  mountiun  breeze, 
And  by  it  there  were  waters  flowing, 
And  on  it  there  were  young  flowers  growiBS, 


no  Ror.  Lo   IN    Geneva. 

The  return  to  \  illeneuve. 

*'  That's  pretty  poetry,"  said  RoUo. 

"  Very  pretty  indeed,"  said  liis  father. 

The  horse  now  bc«ran  to  trot  along  the  road. 
The  little  island  continued  in  view  for  a  while, 
and  then  disappearci,  and  afterwards  came  into 
view  again,  as  the  road  went  turning  and  wind- 
ing around,  following  the  indentations  of  the 
shore. 

At  lengtli,  nftei-  a  sliojt  i)iit  very  ploasant  ride, 
the  party  arrived  Mifuly  al  the  inn  a^ain  at  Vil- 
leneuve. 


ih 


P  L  A  N     F  0  R  M  E  D  .  171 


The  coufignration  of  the  Lsike  of  Gen«>ra. 


CHAPrER    XIII. 

Plan    Formed. 

The  reason  why  tlie  Lake  of  Geneva  is  of  a 
crescent  form  is,  that  that  is  the  shape  of  the 
Bpace  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley  which  it  fills. 
There  are  two  ranges  of  mountains  running  in  a 
curved  direction  almost  parallel  to  each  other, 
and  the  space  between  tjiem,  for  a  certain  dis- 
tance, is  filled  with  water,  owing  to  the  spreading 
out  of  the  waters  of  the  Rhone  in  flowinor  through. 
Thus  the  lake  is  produced  by  the  valley,  and  takes 
its  form  from  it. 

The  valley  does  not  come  to  an  end  when  you 
reach  the  head  of  the  lake,  but  continues  for 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  beyond,  the  two  moun- 
tain ranges  continuing  to  border  it  all  that  dis- 
tance, and  the  River  Rhone  to  flow  through  the 
centre  of  it.  Thus  at  Villeneuve  you  look  in 
one  direction,  and  you  have  a  winding  valley 
filled  with  water,  extending  for  fifty  miles,  to 
Cicneva  ;  while  in  the  other  direction,  the  same 
valley  —  though  now  the  floor  of  it  is  a  greeo 


172  RoLLo   IN   Geneva. 

Curious  features  of  the  valKy.  Why  the  land  is  level. 

and  fertile  plain  —  continues,  with  the  same  stu- 
pendous walls  of  mountain  bordering  the  sides 
of  it,  for  a  hundred  miles  or  more,  to  the  sources 
of  the  Rhone. 

There  is  another  thing  that  is  very  curious  in 
respect  to  this  valley,  and  that  is,  that  the  floor 
of  it  is  as  flat,  and  smooth,  and  level,  almost, 
where  it  is  formed  of  land,  as  where  it  is  formed 
of  water. 

Geologists  suppose  that  the  reason  why  the 
bottom  of  the  valley,  when  it  consists  of  hind,  is 
so  perfectly  level,  is  becau^e  ilic  land  has  been 
formed  by  deposits  from  the  river,  in  the  course 
of  a  long  succession  of  ages.  Of  course  the 
river  could  never  build  the  land  any  higher,  in 
any  part,  than  it  rises  itself  in  the  higiicst  inun- 
dations. Indeed,  land  formed  by  river  deposits 
is  almost  always  nearly  level,  and  the  surface  of 
it  is  but  little  raised  above  the  ordinary  level  of 
the  stream,  and  never  above  that  of  the  highest 
inundations. 

It  must,  however,  by  no  means  be  supposed 
that  because  the  surface  of  the  valley  abo\e  the 
head  of  the  lake  is  flat  and  level,  that  it  is  on 
that  account  monotonous  and  uninteresting.  In- 
di'od,  it  is  quite  the  reverse.  It  forms  one  of  the 
Highest  and  most  enchanting  landscapes  that  can 
be  conceived,    U  is  abundantly  shaded  with  trees, 


P  L  A  N     F  0  R  M  E  D  .  178 

Pleasant  walks.  Swiss  peasants. 

Bome  planted  in  avenues  along  the  roadside,  some 
bearing  fruit  in  orchards  and  gardens,  and  some 
Btaiiding  in  picturesque  groups  about  the  houses, 
or  in  pretty  groves  by  the  margin  of  the  fields. 
'J"!ie  land  is  laid  out  in  a  very  charming  manner, 
in  gardens,  orchards,  meadows,  and  fields  of  corn 
and  grain,  with  no  fences  to  separate  them  either 
from  each  other  or  from  the  road  ;  so  that  in 
walking  along  the  public  highway  you  seem  to 
walk  in  one  of  the  broad  alleys  of  an  immense 
and  most  beautiful  garden. 

Besides  all  these  beauties  of  the  scene  itself, 
trie  pleasure  of  walking  through  it  is  greatly  in- 
ci'eased  by  the  number  and  variety  of  groups  and 
figures  of  peasant  girls  and  boys,  and  women  and 
nion,  tliat  you  meet  coming  along  the  road,  or  see 
working  in  the  fields,  all  dressed  in  the  pretty 
Swiss  costume,  and  each  performing  some  curious 
opera  ♦ioii.  which  is  eitlier  in  itself,  or  in  the  man- 
ner ol  performing  it,  entirely  different  from  what 
Is  seen  in  any  other  land. 

Rollo  followed  the  main  road  leading  up  the 
valley  a  little  wa}'  one  evening,  while  his  father 
and  motlier  were  at  Yillencuve,  in  order,  aa  he 
said,  to  see  where  the  diligences  went  to.  He 
was  so  much  pleased  with  wliat  he  saw  that  he 
went  back  to  the  hotel,  and  began  studying  the 
guide  book,  in  order  to  find  how  far  it  was  to  the 


1T4  R  o  [.  L  o    Tx    Geneva. 


n'>]!>.  )ir<j»..-^t-s  a  Jm-J  .■it!  iaii  exriiisii>n  tpMii  Villf^itenve  to.Aiiil«>. 

next  town,  jnid  wluu  oUject?  of  interest  tlie?-G 
wore  to  lie  seen  on  the  way.  lie  was  so  well  siit- 
istit'tl  with  ilic  resnlt  of  liis  investi.uations  that  he 
'"'-)lvcd  to  propose  to  his  father  and  niotlier  to 
iLike  a  pedestrian  e.xeursion  u])  the  valley. 

*'  Now.  mother/'  said  he,  "  I  have  a  jilan  to 
propose,  and  that  is,  that  we  all  set  out  to-mor- 
row morning,  and  make  a  ])edestiian  exeursion 
up  tlie  valley,  to  the  next  town,  or  the  next  town 
but  one." 

"  How  far  is  it?"  osked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  AVhy,  the  best  place  to  ^o  to,"  said  Rollo,  "  is 
Aigle,  whi»  h  is  the  second  town,  and  that  is  only 
six  miles  from  here." 

"O  Rollo!''  said  Mr-.  Holiday  ;  "I  could  not 
possibly  walk  six  miles." 

*'  (),  yes,  mother,"  said  Rollo.  "  The  road  is  as 
pmooth.  and  level,  and  hard  as  a  floor.  Resides, 
you  said  that  you  meant  to  make  a  ped  .-trian 
exruision  somewhere  while  you  were  in  hwit/.er- 
h\u\.  wvA  there  eouUl  not  be  a  betlei-  j)lace  thai 
this.' 

••  1  ktinw  1  said  so."  n^plied  Mrs.  Huli<lay, "  but 
]  was  ni»t  really  in  earnest.  Resides,  1  don't 
t'link  I  C(Mdd  ])<>ssibly  walk  six  miles.  Rut  wq 
will  take  a  carriage  and  ride  there,  if  your  fatlu-f 
is  willing.'' 

*' liuU  umlher,   it    is   not   so   pKasant   to   ride 


Plan    Formed.  175 


rhe  comjiarative  advantages  ol  rliug  and  walking,  in  viewing  the  country. 

You  can't  see  so  well,  for  the  top  of  the  carriage, 
or  else  the  driver  on  his  high  seat  before,  will  be 
more  or  less  in  the  way.  Then  when  you  are 
walking  you  can  stop  so  easily  any  minute,  and 
look  around.  But  if  you  are  in  a  carriage,  it 
makes  a  fuss  and  trouble  to  be  calling  continually 
upon  the  coachman  to  stop  ;  and  then,  besides, 
naif  of  the  time,  before  he  gets  the  carriage 
stopped  you  have  got  by  the  place  you  wanted 
to  see." 

What  Rollo  said  is  very  true.  We  can  see  a 
country  containing  a  series  of  fine  landscape? 
much  more  thoroughly  by  walking  through  it,  or 
riding  on  iiorscback,  than  by  going  in  a  carriage. 
I  do  not  think,  however,  that,  after  all,  this  advan- 
tage constituted  the  real  inducement  in  Rollo's 
mind  whicli  made  him  so  desirous  of  walking  to 
Aigle.  The  truth  was,  that  the  little  walk  which 
he  had  taken  to  Chillon  with  the  party  of  pedes- 
trian boys  had  quite  filled  his  imagination  with 
the  pleasures  and  the  independent  dignity  of  this 
mode  of  travelling,  and  he  was  very  amb'tioua 
of  making  an  experiment  of  it  hiniBclf. 

"And,  mother,"  continued  Rollo,  "  aftci  all,  it 
is  only  about  two  houi-s  and  a  half  or  three  hours, 
at  two  or  three  miles  an  hour.  Now,  you  are 
often  gone  as  nmch  as  that,  making  calls  ;  and 
wnen  you   are   makii  g   calls   you  generally  gn^ 


176  Ro  L  LO   IX    Genet  a 


Hollo's  :u;:;iiiiiciit  in  fwvor  of  ilie  pedestrian  trip. 


I  am  fiii'O.  as  imich  as  two  or  three  miles  aa 
hour." 

''  But  I  generally  ride,  making  calls,"  said  Mri. 
Holiday. 

"  Yes,  mother,  but  sometimes  you  walk  ;  and  I 
think  when  you  walk  you  are  often  gone  moro 
than  three  hours." 

"Tliat  is  true,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "I  admit  ; 
but  then,  you  know,  when  I  am  making  calls  1 
am  resting  a  great  deal  of  the  time  at  the  houses 
where  1  cull." 

"I  know  tiiat,"  said  Ixollo  ;  "and  so  we  will 
rest,  sitting  down  by  the  road  side." 

Mrs.  Holiday  admitted  that  Kollo  Imd  rather 
the  best  of  the  argument  ;  but  she  was  still  quite 
unwilling  to  believe  that  she  could  really  walk 
Bix  miles. 

"And  back  again,  too,"  she  added.  "You 
must  consider  th.at  we  shall  have  to  come  bacK 
again." 

"Ah,  but  I  don't  wish  to  riave  you  walk  back 
again,"  said  Rollo.  "  We  will  come  back  by  the 
diligence.  There  are  several  diligences  and  (om- 
nibuses that  come  by  Aigle,  on  the  way  here,  iu 
the  course  of  the  day." 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  still  undecided.  She  waa 
Tcry  desirous  of  gratifying  Rollo,  but  yet  she 
had  not  courage  to  undertake  (juitc  so  gn'at  a 


Plan    Formed.  177 

The  experttnent.  Rni!o>  luivtr-mlv.  Its  contents. 

feat  ns  to  walk  six  mile?.  At  Icngtli  Mr.  Holiday 
pjoposed  t'  at  they  should  at  least  set  out  and  go 
a  little  way. 

"  We  can  try  it  for  half  an  hour,"  said  he, "  and 
then  go  on  or  tui-n  back,  just  as  we  feel  incli*ned. 
Or  if  we  go  on  several  miles,  and  then  get  tired, 
we  shall  soon  come  to  a  village,  where  we  shall 
be  able  to  get  some  sort  of  vehicle  or  other  to 
bring  us  back  ;  and  at  all  events  we  shall  have 
an  adventure." 

Mrs.  Holiday  consented  to  this  plan,  and  it 
was  settled  that  the  party  should  breakfast  at 
eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  set  out  imme- 
diately afterwards. 

Rollo  had  a  sort  of  haversack  which  he  used 
to  carr}*  sometimes  on  his  walks,  and  he  always 
kept  it  with  him  in  the  steamboat  or  carriage, 
when  he  travelled  in  those  conveyances.  This 
haversack  he  got  ready,  supplying  it  with  all 
that  he  thought  would  be  required  foi-  the  excur- 
sion. He  put  in  it  h.is  drinking  cup,  —  the 
one  which  he  had  bought  in  Scotland,  —  a  little 
spy  glass,  which  he  used  for  viewing  the  sce- 
nery, a  book  that  his  mother  was  reading,  a 
little  portfolio  containing  some  di-awing  paper 
and  a  pencil,  a  guide  book  and  map.  and,  lastly, 
a  paper  of  small  cakes  and  sugar  plums,  to  give 
12 


178 


Rot.  LO   IN    Geneva 


RoUo's  preparations  for  the  pedestriau  trip. 


to  any  cliildrcn  tlmt  lie  might  cliance  to  meei 
on  llio  way. 

Rullo  made  all  thc5C  ])reparations  the  evening 
before,  so  that  every  thing  might  be  ready  in  thfl 
morning,  when  the  hour  for  setting  out  should 
arrive. 


'h      -     -    r^..-     ■- yC. 


W  A  r.  K    TO    A  I  <;  L  E.  \l\f 


'ITio  responsibility  of  the  Hxcuioioii  put  upon  l{ollo. 


Chapter   XIV. 
Walk    to    a  i  g  l  e . 

*'^ow,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  as  the  party 
sallied  forth  from  the  inu  to  commence  their  walk 
up  the  valley,  "  we  depend  entirely  on  you.  Tliia 
is  your  excursion,  and  we  expect  you  will  take 
cai«>  and  see  that  every  thing  goes  right.'' 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Hollo.  '•  Come  with  me.  I'll 
show  you  the  way." 

On  the  borders  of  the  village  they  passed  to  a 
high  stone  bridge  which  crossed  a  small  stream. 
This  stream  came  in  a  slow  and  meandering 
course  through  the  meadows,  and  here  emptied 
into  the  lake.  Farther  back  it  was  a  ton-cut 
leaping  from  rock  to  rock  and  crag  to  crag,  for 
many  thousand  feet  down  the  mountain  side;  but 
here  it  flowed  so  gently,  and  lay  so  quietly  in  iti? 
bed,  that  pond  lilies  grew  and  bloomed  in  ita 
waters. 

Just  above  the  bridge  there  was  a  square  en* 
closure  in  the  margin  of  the  water,  with  a  solid 
stone  wall  all  around  it.     A  man  st(jod  on  the 


180  RoLLO   IN    Geneva. 


The  man  fishing  with  the  net. 


Wall  with  a  net  in  his  hand.  The  net  was  at- 
laclied  to  a  pole.  The  man  was  just  dipping  the 
net  into  the  water  when  Rollo,  witli  his  father 
and  mother,  came  upon  the  bridge. 

"  Let  us  stop  a  minute,  and  see  wliat  that  man 
is  going  to  do,"  said  Rollo.  "  1  saw  that  square 
wall  yesterday,  and  I  could  not  imagine  what  it 
was  for." 

The  man  put  his  net  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
reservoir,  and  after  drawing  it  along  on  the  bot- 
tom, he  took  it  out  again.  There  was  nothing  in 
it.  He  then  repealed  the  operation,  and  thig 
time  he  brought  up  two  large  fishes  that  looked 
like  trout.  They  were  both  more  than  a  foot 
long. 

The  man  uttered  a  slight  exclamation  of  satis- 
faction, and  then  lifting  the  net  over  the  wall,  he 
let  the  fish  fall  into  a  basket  which  he  had  placed 
outside.  He  then  went  away,  carrying  the  bas- 
ket with  one  hand,  and  the  net  on  his  shoulder 
with  the  other. 

"  That's  a  very  curious  plan,"  said  Rollo.  *'  1 
puppose  they  catch  the  fish  in  the  lake,  and  then 
put  them  in  that  pen  and  keep  them  there  till 
they  are  ready  to  eat  them." 

So  they  walked  on. 

Presently  Rollo  saw  some  of  the  pond  lilieg 
growing  in  the  stream,  the  course  of  which  wai» 
bore,  for  a  short  distance,  near  the  road. 


Walk    TO    AiGi.E.  181 

tlul]o  fishitig  for  pond  lilies.  Sights  and  8(»fit«. 

"  I  wish  very  nuicli,  mother/'  said  he,  "  that  1 
could  get  one  of  those  pond  lilies  for  you,  but  I 
cannot.  I  tried  yesterday,  but  they  are  too  far 
f)0]u  the  shore,  and  it  is  so  finished,  and  smooth, 
and  nice  about  here  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  pole  or  a  stick  to  be  found  any  where  to 
reach  with." 

Presently,  however,  Hollo  came  to  a  boy  who 
was  fishing  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  and  he 
asked  him  if  he  would  be  good  enough  to  hook 
ill  one  of  those  lilies  for  him  with  his  pole  and 
line.  The  boy  was  very  willing  to  do  it.  He 
threw  a  loop  of  his  line  over  one  of  the  pond 
lilies,  and  drew  it  in.  Rollo  thanked  the  boy  for 
his  kindness,  and  gave  the  pond  lily  to  his  mother,, 

Perhaps  there  are  no  flowers  that  give  a  higher 
pleasure  to  the  possessors  than. those  which  a  boy 
of  Rollo's  age  gathers  for  his  mother. 

The  party  walked  on.  Mrs.  Holiday^s  atten- 
tion was  soon  strongly  attracted  to  the  various 
groups  of  peasants  which  she  saw  working  in  the 
fields,  or  walking  along  the  road.  First  came  a 
young  girl,  with  a  broad-brimmed  straw  hat  on 
her  head,  driving  a  donkey  cart  loaded  with 
eheaves  of  grain.  Next  an  old  and  decrepit- 
looking  woman,  with  a  great  bundle  of  sticks  on 
her  head.  It  seemed  impossible  that  she  could 
QMTj  so  great  a  load  in  such  a  manner.      As  our 


182  R  0  L  L  0    IX    Geneva. 


la  SwIrzprl.Hnti  flm  idrls  w..ik  in  the  fit-!  Is. 


party  went  by.  she  turned  lier  liead  slowly  round 
a  little  way,  to  look  at  tiiem  ;  and  it  was  cuiioua 
to  see  the  great  bundle  of  sticks  —  whii'li  was 
two  lect  iu  diameter,  and  four  or  live  feet  long  — 
blowly  turn  round  with  her  head,  and  then  slowly 
turn  back  again  as  she  went  on  her  way. 

Next  Mrs.  Holiday  paused  a  moment  to  look 
at  some  girls  who  were  hoeing  in  the  field.  The 
girls  looked  snnlingly  upon  the  strangers,  and 
bade  them  good  morning. 

"Ask  tiiem/' said  Mrs.  Holiday  to  Kollo,  "  if 
their  woik  is  not  very  hard." 

So  Rollo  asked  them  the  question.  Mrs.  Holi- 
day requested  him  to  do  it  because  she  did  not 
speak  French  very  well,  and  so  she  did  not  like 
to  try. 

The  girls  said  that  tlie  work  was  not  hmd  at 
all.  They  laughed,  and  weut  on  working  faster 
than  ever. 

Next  they  came  to  a  poor  wayfariiig  woman, 
who  was  sitting  by  the  roadside  w  iti:  an  infant  in 
her  arms.  Rollo  immcdiaiely  took  out  one  of  the 
little  cakes  fiom  liie  parcel  in  his  knapsack,  and 
handed  it  to  the  child.  Tlie  motlu  r  seemed  very 
much  pleased.      She  bowed  to  kollo,  and  said, — 

"She  thanks  you  infinitely,  sir." 

Thus  they  went  on  for  about  three  (piartc/'s  of 
an   hour.     During   all    this    lime  Mrs.   iloliday'l 


W  A  L  K      TO      A  I  G  L  IC  .  183 

OraUl  scenery.  Lookii.g  for  a  l"psting-placo. 

attention  was  so  much  taken  up  with  wliat  she 
paw,— somctiiiics  with  the  gi'oups  of  peasants 
and  the  pretty  little  views  of  gardens,  cottages, 
and  liekls  which  attracted  her  notice  by  the  road 
yide,  ever  and  anon  by  the  glimpses  which  she 
obtained  of  the  stupendous  mountain  ranges  that 
bordered  the  valley  on  either  hand,  and  that  were 
rontinually  presenting  their  towering  crags  and 
dizzy  precipices  to  view  through  the  opening  of 
I  lie  trees  on  the  plain,  —  that  she  had  not  time  to 
think  of  beiiig  fatigued.  At  length  Rollo  asked 
her  how  she  liked  the  walk. 

"  V^eiT  well,"  said  she;  "  only  I  think  now  I 
have  walked  full  as  far  as  I  should  ever  have  to  go 
at  home,  when  making  calls,  before  coming  to  the 
first  house.  So  as  soon  as  you  can  you  may  find 
me  a  place  to  sit  down  and  rest  a  little  while." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  1  see  a  grove  of  trees  by 
the  roadside,  on  ahead  a  little  way.  When  we 
get  thei  3  we  will  sit  down  in  the  shade  and  rest." 

So  they  went  on  till  they  came  to  the  grove. 
The  grove  proved  to  be  a  very  pretty  one,  though 
it  consisted  of  only  four  or  five  trees  ;  but  unfor- 
tunately there  was  no  place  to  sit  down  in  it. 
Rollo  looked  about  for  some  time  in  vain,  and 
Beemed  quite  disappointed. 

"Never  mind,"  said  his  mother;  "sometimes, 
when  1  make  a  call,  I  find  that  the  lady  1  hav^ 


184  ROLLO    IN     Gexeta. 

~.  '^ 

Rflllo  and  his  parents,  sitting  by  tlie  rcadsidn,  watch  the  pacsers  ty. 

Called  to  see  is  not  at  lionic  ;  and  then,  even  if  1 
am  tired  and  want  to  rest,  I  have  to  go  on  to  the 
text  house.  We  will  siippoee  tliat  at  this  placQ 
the  lady  is  not  at  home." 

llollo  laughed  and  walked  on.  It  was  not 
long  befoi-e  they  reached  a  place  where  there  waa 
a  kind  of  granary,  or  some  other  farm  building 
of  that  sort,  near  the  road,  with  a  little  yard 
where  sonic  logs  were  lying.  Rollo  foimd  excel- 
lent seats  for  his  father  and  mother  on  these  logs. 
They  sat  on  one  of  them,  and  leaned  their  backs 
against  another  that  was  a  little  higher  up.  They 
were  in  the  shade  of  the  building,  too,  so  that 
the  ])lace  was  very  cool. 

"This  is  a  very  nice  pincc  to  rest,"  said  Mrs. 
Uoliday  ;  "and  while  we  are  sitting,  we  can 
amuse  ourselves  in  looking  at  the  people  that 
go  by."' 

The  first  pei-son  that  came  was  a  pretty-look- 
ing peasant  girl  of  about  seventeen,  who  had  a 
tul)  upon  her  head.  What  was  in  the  tu  Rollo 
could  not  see.  With  such  a  burden  on  her  head, 
however,  it  is  plain  that  the  giil  could  not  wear 
her  hat  in  the  ordinary  manner.  n?id  so  she  car- 
ric]  it  tied  to  the  back  of  her  \n\k,  with  its  broad 
brim  covering  her  shoulders.  This,  Mr.  Holiday 
said,  secuicd  to  him  to  be  carrying  t!ic  motleru 
fashion  of  wearing  the  bonnet  quite  to  an  extreme 


Walk    to    Aigle 


185 


Tlie  way  in  wliicli  tlu'  SmIss  women  carry  burdens. 

The  Swiss  women  have  other  \\ays  of  bearing 
burdens,  besides  loading  them  upon  their  heads. 
They  carry  tliem  upon  their  backs,  sometimes,  in 
baskets  fitted  to  their  shoulders.    A  woman  canso 


^i.-<^j 


THE  BASKET  RIDE. 


by,  while  Rollo  and  his  father  and  motlicr  were 
Bitting  upon  tlie  logs,  with  her  child  taking  a  ride 
in  such  a  basket  on  her  back.     As  soon  as  thid 


180  RoLLo   IN    Geneva. 

Mrs.  H>Iiday*s  i.ioture.  The  village.  A  cretin. 

^oman  was  past,  Rollo  was  so  much  struck  with 
the  comical  appearance  that  the  cliild  made,  sit- 
ting upright  in  tlie  basket,  and  looking  ai'ound, 
that  he  took  out  some  paper  and  a  pencil  inimo- 
diatcly  from  his  portfolio,  and  asked  his  mother 
to  make  a  drawing  of  the  woman,  with  the  child 
in  the  basket  on  her  back.  Tliis  Mrs.  Holiday 
could  easily  do,  even  from  the  brief  glimpse  which 
she  had  of  tlie  woman  as  she  went  by  ;  for  the 
outlines  of  the  figure  and  dress  of  the  woman 
and  f>f  the  basket  and  chiUl  were  very  simple. 
^Irs.  Holiday  afterwards  ])ut  in  some  of  the  sce- 
nery for  a  background. 

When  the  drawing  was  finished,  Rollo  told  his 
mother  tliat  he  calculated  that  they  had  come  one 
third  of  the  way,  and  asked  her  if  she  felt  tired  : 
and  she  saiil  she  did  not  feel  tired  at  all,  and  so 
they  rose  and  went  on. 

In  a  short  time  they  came  to  a  vilhige.  It 
consisted  of  a  narrow  street,  witii  stone  houses 
on  each  side  of  it.  The  houses  were  close  to- 
gether and  close  to  the  street.  In  one  place  sev- 
eral people  were  sitting  out  before  the  door,  and 
among  them  was  a  poor,  sickly  child,  such  as  arc 
found  very  often  in  the  low  valleys  of  Switzei*- 
Innd,  of  the  kind  called  cretins.  These  children 
uro  entijely  helpless,  and  they  have  no  reason,  or 
at   least  verv  iiiiie.     The  oiic  wiiii  li    I^)ll()  saw 


WalktoAigle.  18' 


lldllo  giving  a  cake  to  tlie  cretin. 


was  a  girl,  and  appeared  to  be  about  ten  years 
old  ;  but  it  did  not  seem  to  have  t>trcngtli  enough 
to  .^it  up  in  its  chair.  It  was  continually  lolling 
and  falling  about  on  this  side  and  that,  and  try- 
ing to  look  up.  The  mother  of  the  child  eat  by 
her,  and  kept  her  from  falling  out  of  the  chair. 
She  was  talking,  the  mean  while,  with  the  neigh- 
bors, who  were  sitting  there  on  a  l;f?iich,  knitting 
or  sewing. 

The  face  of  the  child  was  deformed,  and  had 
scarcely  a  human  expression.  Both  itollo  and 
his  mother  were  much  shocked  at  the  spectucle. 

"  It  is  a  cretin —  is  it  not?  "  said  Mrs.  Holiday 
to  her  husband,  in  a  whisper,  as  soon  as  they  had 
passed  by. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 

"Mother,"  said  Rollo,  "would  you  give  that 
poor  little  thing  a  cake  ?  " 

"  Yes/'  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  would." 

"  Do  you  think  she  will  understand  ?  "  asked 
Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  "  I  think  she  will ; 
and  at  any  rate  her  mother  will." 

Rollo  had  by  this  time  taken  out  his  cake.  Ho 
went  back  with  it  to  the  place  whci-e  the  women 
were  sitting,  and  held  it  out,  half,  as  it  were,  to 
the  mother,  and  half  to  the  child,  so  that  either 
of  them  might  take  it,  saying,  at  the  same  time, 
tu  ihe  mother,  in  French, — 


188  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

conversation  with  the  Swis3  mother 

""  For  this  poor  little  child." 

The  mother  smiled,  and  looked  very  mucb 
pleased.  The  cretin,  whose  eyes  caught  a  glimpse 
cf  the  cake,  laughed,  and  lx?gan  to  try  to  reach 
out  her  hand  to  take  it.  It  seemed  hard  Ibr  licr 
to  guide  her  hand  to  the  place,  and  she  fell  over 
from  side  to  side  all  the  time  while  (Attempting  lo 
do  so.  Slic^w^ould  have  fallen  entirely  if  her 
mother  had  not  held  her  up.  At  length  she  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  hold  of  the  cake,  which  she 
carried  directly  to  her  mouth,  and  then  laughed 
again  with  a  laugh  that  seemed  scarcely  human, 
and  was  hideous  to  sch3. 

"  Does  she  understand  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  mother ;  "  she  understands,  but 
she  can't  si)eak,  ixx)r  thing.  But  she  is  very 
much  obliged  to  you  indeed." 

So  Rollo  bowed  to  the  mother  of  the  child,  and 
to  tlie  otlicr  women,  and  then  went  on  and  re- 
joined his  father  and  mother. 

They  passed  through  the  village,  and  iiicn 
came  into  the  open  country  again.  Sometimes 
the  mountains  that  bordered  tJie  valley  receded 
to  some  distance  ;  at  other  times  they  came  very 
near  ;  and  theix3  was  ore  place  where  they  formed 
a  range  of  lofty  precipices  a  thousand  feet  higli, 
that  seemed  almost  to  overhang  the  road.  Here 
liollo  stoppeJ  to  look  uj).    He  saw,  near  a  round 


Walk    TO    AiGLE.  189 


Eagles  leaning  to  6y.  Vineyard  tena :cs. 


ed  mass  of  rock,  half  way  up  the  mountain,  two 
youn^eagl^is  that  had  apparently  just  left  theii* 
nest,  and  were  trying  to  learn  to  fly.  The  f)ld 
eaglt3S  were  soaring  around  them,  screaming, 
Timy  seemed  to  be  afraid  that  their  young  ones 
would  fall  down  the  recks  and  get  kiliod.  Rollo 
vrishod  that  they  would  fall  down,  or  at  least  fly 
down,  to  where  he  was,  in  order  that  ho  might 
eatch  one  of  them.  But  they  did  not.  They 
took  only  short  flights  from  reck  to  rock  and 
from  thicket  to  thicket,  but  they  did  not  come 
down.  So,  aftor  watching  them  for  a  time,  Rollo 
went  on. 

Next  they  came  to  a  place  where  the  valley 
took  a  turn  so  as  to  expose  the  mountain  side  to 
the  sun  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  a  good  place 
there  for  grapes  to  grow  and  ripen.  The  people 
had  accordingly  terraced  the  whole  declivity  by 
building  walls,  one  above  another,  to  support 
the  earth  for  the  vineyards  ;  and  when  Rollo  was 
going  by  the  place  he  looked  up  and  saw  a  man 
standing  on  the  wall  of  one  of  the  terraces,  with 
the  tool  which  he  had  been  working  with  in  his 
iiand.  He  seemed  suspended  in  mid  air,  and 
looked  down  on  the  road  and  on  the  people  walk- 
ing along  it  as  a  man  would  look  down  upon  a 
street  in  London  from  the  gallery  under  the 
dome  of  St.  Paul's. 


190  R  0  L  L  n    I  x    Ci  K  X  e  v  a  . 

The  watch  tower  iu  the  vineyard.  Anival  ?.t  Aigle. 

"Tliat's  a  pleasant  place  to  work,"  ?aid  Rollo, 
"  away  up  there,  betweoQ  tlie  lieavcns  and  the 
earth." 

"Yes/'  said  his  mother;  "and  I  should  tliiui 
that  taking  care  of  vines  and  gatliering  Iho 
grapes  would  be  very  pretty  work  to  do." 

There  was  a  little  building  on  the  cornrr  of 
one  of  the  terraces,  which  Mr.  Holiday  said  was 
a  watch  tower.  There  were  windows  on  all  the 
sides  of  it. 

'•  When  the  grapes  begin  to  ripen,"  said  he, 
"  there  is  a  man  stationed  there  to  watch  all  the 
vinoynrds  around,  in  oider  to  prevent  people 
from  stealing  the  grai)es." 

'•  I  should  thiidv  there  would  be  danger  of  their 
stealing  the  grapes,"  said  Rollo. 

After  going  on  a  little  way  beyond  this,  they 
began  to  approach  the  town  of  Aigle.  y\\-:i.  Hol- 
iday was  surprised  that  she  could  have  couic  so 
far  with  so  little  fatigue.  Rollo  told  her  that  it 
was  because  she  had  walked  along  so  slowly. 

"  Ves,"  said  Mr.  Holiday;  "and  Uvanse  there 
have  been  so  many  things  to  take  up  our  atlcn- 
lion  by  the  way." 

When  they  arrived  at  the  village  they  wcni 
directly  to  the  inn.  The  inns  in  these  country 
towns  in  Swit/erland  are  the  largest  and  most 
c<»nspieu(ni-  looking  luiilding-  to  be  <vrii.      Hollo 


Walk   TO   Air.  Lt:.  191 

1;Ije  dirtihg  room  in  tlip  Swiss  luua.  DimuT  rhli'red. 

^•ent  first,  and  led  the  ^vay.  He  went  directly 
to  tlie  dining  room. 

Tlie  dining  rooms  in  these  inn??,  as  1  hnvo 
already  said,  are  the  public  rooms,  where  tho 
coni))any  always  go,  whether  they  wish  for  any 
thing  to  eat  or  not.  There  is  usually  one  large 
table,  for  dinner,  in  the  centre  of  tlie  room,  and 
several  smaller  tables  at  the  sides  or  at  the  win- 
dows, for  breakfasts  and  luncheons^  and  also  for 
small  dinner  pai'tics  of  two  or  three*  Besides 
these  tables,  there  is  often  one  with  a  pen  and  ink 
upon  it  for  writing,  and  another  for  knapsacks 
and  carpet  bags  ;  and  there  are  sofas  for  the 
com])any  to  repose  upoii  while  the  waiter  is  set- 
ting the  table  for  them. 

Rollo  accordingly  led  llie  way  at  once  to  the 
dining  room  of  the  inuj  und  conducted  his  mother 
to  a  sofa. 

"  Now,  Rollo/'  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  order  us  a 
dinner." 

So  Hollo  went  to  tlie  waiter,  and  after  talking 
Mith  liim  a  little  while,  came  back  and  said  that 
he  had  ordcied  some  fried  trout,  some  veal  cut- 
lets, fried  potatoes,  an  omelet,  and  some  coffee. 

'•  Au.d  besides  that,"  said  Rollo,  "  he  is  going  to 
give  us  some  plums  and  some  pears.  This  is  a 
I'amous  phice  for  plums  and  pears." 

'•And  for  grapes,  too  in  the  season  of  iluMn/' 
r-M  Mr.  TfobM-^v. 


192  RoLLO  t J?   Gfi.sfet A, 


Rcllo  reads  the  advrjrtisement  of  the  grrape  cine. 


This  was  very  true.  Indeed,  on  looking  about 
the  walls  of  the  room,  to  see  the  maps  and  the 
pretty  pictures  of  Swiss  scenery  that  were  there^ 
Kollo  found  among  tlie  otlier  things  an  advertigc- 
meni  of  what  was  called  tlie  grape  cure*  It  seems 
that  eating  ripe  grapes  was  considered  a  cure  for 
sickness  in  that  country,  and  that  ]icople  were 
accustomed  to  come  to  that  very  town  of  Aigle 
to  procure  them.  There  was  no  place  in  Switzer- 
land, the  advertisement  said,  where  the  grapes 
weic  richer  and  sweeter  than  there. 

The  advertisement  went  on  to  say  tliat  the  sea- 
son i\)v  tlie  gia{)e  cure  was  in  September,  Octo 
ber,  and  November  ;  that  tlierc  were  a  number 
of  fine  vineyards  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town 
which  produced  the  most  delicious  grapes  ;  and 
tliat  these  vineyards  were  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  guests  of  the  hotel  at  the  rate  of  a  franc 
a  day  for  each  person  ;  so  tliat  for  tliat  sum  they 
could  have  every  day  as  many  as  tiiey  could  eat , 
mid  this  was  to  Ije  their  medicine,  to  make  thero 
ivcll. 

Itollo  road  this  advertisement  aloud  to  his 
falher  and  mother,  with  a  tone  of  voice  which 
indicated  a  very  eager  interest  in  it. 

"Father."  said  he,  "  1  wish  you  would  como 
iiere  an  1  try  it.  Terhaps  il  would  make  yo'J 
well." 


WalktoAigle.  193 

Rollo's  plan  for  hi.«  faflur.  A  new  arrival. 


The  advertisement  was  in  Frencli,  and   Rollo 

translated  it  as  be  read  it.     He  succeeded  very 

well  in  rendering  into  English  all  that  was  said 

about  the  grapes,  and  the  manner  of  taking  them, 

ttud   the   terms  for   boarders  at   the  hotel  ;    but 

when  he  came  to  the  names  of  the  diseases  that 

the  grapes  would  cure,  ho  was  at  a  loss,  as  most 

of  them  were  learned  medical  words,  which  he 

had  never  seen  before.    So  he  read  off  the  names 

in  French,  and  concluded  by  asking  his  father 

whether  he  did  not  think  it  was  some  of  those 

things  that  was  the  matter  with  him. 

"  Very  likely,"  said  his  father. 

''Then,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "I  wish  you  would 

come  here  In  October,  and  try  the  grape  cure, 

and  bring  me  too." 

"  Very  likely  I  may,"  said  his  father.  "  This 
is  on  the  great  road  to  Italy,  and  we  may  con- 
clude to  go  to  Italy  this  winter." 

Just  at  this  time  the  door  of  the  dining  room 
opened,  and  a  new  party  came  in.  It  consisted 
of  a  gentleman  and  lady,  who  seemed  to  be  a  new 
married  pair.  They  came  in  a  carriage.  Hollo 
looked  out  the  window,  and  saw  the  carriao-e 
drive  away  from  the  door  to  go  to  the  stable. 

The  gentleman  put  his  haversack  and  the  lady's 
satchel  and  shawl  down  upon  the  table,  and  then 
13 


194  R  0  L  L  0   IN    Geneva. 


After  dinner  the  party  go  out  to  walk.  The  castle  jail. 

took  a  scat  with  licr  upon  another  eofa  which  was 
in  tlic  room. 

The  dinner  which  Rollo  had  ordered  was  soon 
ready,  and  they  sat  down  to  eat  it  with  excellent 
appetites.  While  they  were  at  dinner,  Rollo 
inquired  of  the  waiter  what  time  the  omnil)ua 
went  to  Yillencnve,  and  he  learned  that  it  did 
not  go  for  some  hours.  So  Mr.  Holiday  told  hia 
wife  tliat  she  might  either  have  a  chamber,  and 
lie  down  and  rest  herself  during  that  time,  or 
they  miglit  go  out  and  take  a  walk. 

Mrs.  Holiday  said  that  i^he  did  not  feel  at  all 
fatigued,  and  so  she  would  like  to  go  and  take  a 
walk. 

There  was  a  castle  on  a  rising  ground  just  in 
the  rear  of  the  village,  which  had  attracted  her 
attention  in  coming  into  the  town,  and  she  wa«^ 
desirous  of  going  to  see  it. 

So  Lliey  all  set  off  to  go  and  see  the  castle. 
They  found  their  way  to  it  without  any  difficulty. 
It  proved  to  be  an  ancient  castle,  built  in  the 
middle  ages,  but  it  was  used  now  for  a  prison. 
The  family  of  the  jailer  lived  in  it  too.  It  looked 
old  and  gone  to  decay. 

When  they  entered  the  court  yard,  a  woman 
looked  up  to  the  windows  and  called  out  Julu  ! 
Presently  a  young  girl  answered  to  the  call,  and 
tlie  woman  told  her  that  here  were  some  people 


W  A  L  K    TO    A  k;  L  E.  195 


WliKt  Kollo  and  his  parents  saw  at  tlic  jail. 


come  to  see  the  castle.  So  Julie  came  do\v!i  anJ 
took  them  under  her  charge. 

The  party  s])eiit  half  an  hour  in  rambling  over 
tlic  castle.  They  went  through  all  sorts  of  intri- 
cate passages,  and  up  and  down  fliglits  of  stoao 
Btairs,  steep,  and  narrow,  and  winding.  They 
Haw  a  num])<3r  of  dismal  dungeons.  Some  were 
dai-k,  so  that  the  girl  had  to  take  a  candle  to 
light  tiie  way.  The  doors  were  old,  and  black- 
ened by  time,  and  they  moved  heavily  on  rusty 
hinges.  The  bolts,  and  bars,  and  locks  were  all 
rusted,  too,  so  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  move 
them. 

The  visitors  did  not  see  all  the  dnngcons  and 
cells,  for  some  of  them  had  prisoners  in  them 
then,  and  those  doors  Jniie  said  she  was  not 
allowed  to  open,  for  fear  that  the  prisoners 
should  get  away. 

After  rambling  about  the  old  castle  as  much  as 
they  desired  to  do,  and  ascending  to  the  tower  to 
view  the  scenery,  the  party  came  down  again, 
and  returned  to  the  inn. 

They  found  the  dining  room  full  of  boys. 
'J'hese  boys  were  sitting  at  a  long  ta])le,  eating  a 
luncheon.  They  were  the  boys  of  a  school.  The 
teacher  was  at  the  head  of  the  (able.  Rollo 
talked  with  some  of  the  boys,  for  he  Ibund  two 
or  three  that  could  talk  French  and  Knglislt, 
though  their  English  was  not  very  good. 


196 


Roi. Lo    IN    Geneva 


The  return  to  Yilleneuve,  and  thence  to  Geneva. 


In  due  time  the  omnibus  came  to  tlie  door,  an<J 
then  Rollo  conducted  his  father  and  motlier  to  it, 
and  assisted  tliem  to  get  in.  The  sun  was  now 
rcarly  down,  and  the  party  had  a  delightful  ride, 
in  the  cool  air  of  the  evening,  back  to  Villeucuve. 

The  next  day  they  embarked  on  board  tho 
oteumer,  and  returned  to  Geneva. 


*^^ 


The    Jewelry.  W^ 

The  manufactures  of  Geneva.  Is  it  right  to  wear  ornamente? 


Chapter    XV. 
The    Jewelry, 

1  HATE  already  said  that  GeQC-va  is  a  very 
famous  place  for  the  maiiufacture  of  watches  and 
jewelry,  and  that  almost  every  person  who  goes 
there  likes  to  buy  some  specimen  of  these  manu- 
factures as  a  souvenir  of  their  visit. 

There  is  a  great  difference  in  ladies,  in  respec) 
to  the  interest  which  they  take  in  dress  and  orna- 
ments. Some  greatly  midervalue  them,  some 
greatly  overvalue  tliem. 

Some  ladies,  especially  such  as  are  of  a  very 
conscientious  and  religious  turn  of  mind,  are  apt 
to  imagine  that  tlicre  is  somethmg  wrong  in 
itself  in  wearing  ornaments  or  in  taking  pleasure 
in  them.  But  we  should  remember  that  God 
himself  has  ornamented  every  thing  in  nature 
that  has  not  power  to  ornament  itself.  Look  at 
the  flowers,  the  fruits,  the  birds,  the  fields,  the 
butterflies,  the  insects  ;  see  how  beautiful  thej 
all  are  made  by  ornawents  with  which  God  has 
embellished  them. 


198  R  0  L  L  0      IX      G  K  \  E  V  A  . 

Yes:  liut  nioet  peixnis  err  u[)oii  ihf  otlier  extreme 

God  has  uot  ornamented  man,  nor  has  he 
clotlied  him  ;  but  he  has  given  him  tlic  powers 
and  faeultics  neccssarv  to  clothe  and  ornament 
himself.  He  has  pi-ovided  him  with  the  means, 
too,  and  with  the  means  as  much  for  the  one  aa 
for  the  other.  There  arc  cotton  and  flax  whicb 
he  can  procure  from  plants,  ar.d  wool  and  fur  from 
•animals,  for  his  clothinu  ;  mid  then  there  are  gold 
and  silver  in  the  earth,  and  rnhies.  emeralds,  and 
diamonds,  for  his  ornaments  ;  and  ii'  we  aie  not 
to  use  them,  what  were  they  made  for? 

'rin\v,  therefore,  seem  to  be  in  error  who  dis- 
card all  ornaments,  and  think  that  to  wc-av  them 
oi-  to  take  i)leasurc  in  them  is  wronjr. 

Ihit  this,  after  alL  is  not  the  common  failing. 
The  dniiLicr  is  usually  altogether  the  other  way. 
A  gicat  many  ladies  overvalue  ornaments.  They 
seem  to  think  of  scarcely  any  thing  else.  They 
canni)t  have  too  many  rings,  pins,  bracelets,  and 
jewels.  'J'hey  spend  all  their  surjilus  money  for 
these  things,  and  even  sometimes  pinch  themselves 
in  comforts  and  Uiccssaries,  to  add  to  their 
already  aliundant  supplio.  This  excessive  fond- 
ness for  dress  and  articles  for  personal  adorn- 
ment is  a  mark  of  a  weak  mind.  It  is  seen  most 
strongly  in  savages,  and  in  people  of  the  lowest 
ftages  of  refinement  and  cultivation.  The  0})po- 
bite  erior,  though  far  less  common,  is  equally  ac 


T  \]  K      J  E  W  E  L  11  Y  .  K'? 

A  <juc>ei'  i>eaS(iii  fur  buyiiij;  jcwcii y. 

error  ;  and  though  it  is  not  the  mark  of  any 
weakness  of  the  mind,  it  certainly  denote?  a 
degree  of  pei- version  in  some  of  the  woi-ki ugs 
of  "it. 

The  morning  after  the  return  of  our  party  to 
Geneva  from  their  excursion  along  the  lake,  they 
made  their  arrangements  for  leaving  Geneva 
finally  on  the  following  day. 

'*  \ud  nott-,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  to  his  wif;?, 
'*  Geneva  is  a  famous  place  for  ornaments  and 
jewelry  :  and  before  we  go,  I  think  you  had  bet- 
ter go  with  me  to  some  of  the  shops,  and  buy 
FOHjetliing  of  (hat  kind,  as  a  souvenir  of  your 
visit." 

"  Well,"  said  ^frs.  Holiday,  "  if  you  think  it  is 
best,  we  will.  Only  I  don't  think  much  of  orna- 
ments and  jewelry." 

'*  I  know  you  do  not,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  and 
that  is  the  reason  why  I  think  you  had  better  buy 
some  here." 

Mrs.  Holiday  laughed.  She  thought  it  was 
-athcr  a  queer  reason  for  wishing  her  to  buy  a 
":hing  —  that  she  did  not  care  much  about  it. 

Rollo  was  present  during  this  conversation 
oetwetn  his  father  and  mother,  and  listened  to 
it  ;  and  when,  finally,  it  was  decided  that  his 
nioth.er  should  go  to  one  or  two  of  ';hc  sho])f» 
in    Ueneva,  to    look   at,  and    perhaps   purchai-e. 


2(.)0  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 

Rollo's  finances.  Arrangement  of  tht- jewelry  sbopa. 

6ome  of  tlie  ornaments  and  jewelry,  lie  wislied 
to  go  too. 

"  Why  ?  "  said  liis  motlier  ;  "  do  you  wish  to 
buy  any  of  those  tilings  ?  ■' 

Rollo  said  he  did.  He  wished  to  buy  some  fur 
presents. 

"  Have  you  got  any  money  ?  "  asked  his  father. 

"  Yes,  sir,  plenty,"  said  Rollo. 

Rollo  was  a  very  good  manager  in  respect  to 
his  finances,  and  always  kept  a  good  supply  of 
cash  on  hand,  laid  up  fioni  his  allowance,  so  as 
to  be  provided  in  case  of  any  sudden  emergency 
like  this. 

So  tlie  party  set  out  together,  after  l)reakfast, 
to  look  at  the  shops.  They  knew  the  shops 
where  jewelry  was  ke]»t  for  sale  by  the  display 
of  rings,  ]iins,  bracelets,  and  pretty  little  watches, 
that  were  put  up  at  the  windows.  They  went 
into  several  of  them.  The  shops  were  not  large, 
but  the  interior  of  them  presented  quite  a  ])ecu- 
liar  aspect.  There  were  no  goods  of  any  kind, 
except  those  in  the  windows,  to  be  seen,  nor  were 
there  even  any  shelves  ;  but  the  three  sides  of  the 
room  were  liiled  with  little  drawers,  extending 
from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling.  These  drawi'i-s 
were  filled  with  jewelry  of  the  richest  and  most 
costly  description  ;  and  thus,  though  there  was 
aothing  to  be  seen  at  lirst  view,  the  value  of  the 


Tfit:  Jewelry.  2i.i 

Conver.ienres  for  the  customers.  A  faslii.>!iiil»!c  part> 

merclinudisc  ready  to  be  displayed  at  a  inomenc'a 
110 1  ice  was  very  great. 

In  the  centre  of  tlie  room,  in  front  of  tliQ 
drawers,  were  counters  —  usually  two,  one  od 
each  side  ;  and  sometimes  there  was  a  tabic  be 
sides.  The  table  and  the  counters  were  elegantly 
made,  of  fine  cabinetwork,  and  before  them  were 
placed  handsome  chairs  and  sofas,  nicely  cush* 
ioned,  so  that  the  customers  might  sit  at  their 
case,  and  examine  tlie  ornaments  whicli  the  shop- 
keeper showed  them.  The  counters  were  of  the 
same  hciglit  as  tlie  table,  and  there  wevQ  drawers 
in  them  below,  and  also  in  the  table,  like  those 
along  tlie  pidcs  of  the  room. 

At  the  first  shop  where  our  party  went  in,  two 
ladies,  very  showily  dressed,  were  sitting  at  a 
table,  looking  at  a  great  variety  of  pins,  rings, 
and  bracelets  that  the  shopkeeper  had  placed 
])cfore  tliem.  The  articles  were  contained  in 
little  rosewood  and  mahogany  tray?^.  lined  with 
velvet  ;  and  they  looked  very  brilliant  and  beau- 
tiful as  they  lay,  each  in  its  own  little  velvet  nest.. 

The  ladies  looked  up  from  the  table,  ami  ga/.cd 
with  a  peculiar  sort  of  stare,  well  known  anionf^ 
fashionable  people  of  a  certain  sort,  upon  Mrs. 
Holiday,  as  she  came  in.  One  of  them  put  up  a 
little  eye  glass  to  her  eye,  in  order  to  see  her 
wore  distinctly.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday,  followed 


202  R  0  L  L  0  I  Jf   G  K  5r  c  r  A  . 

Hie  dialogue  of  the  tw&ladh's  nlmitt  f>ii-  I'fnceVft. 

by  Kollo,  advanced  and  took  flidi-  place?  on  a 
sofa  before  one  of  the  coynter.-^.  Tl.e  ladies  then 
continued  their  conrcysation,  apimicntly  taking 
no  notice  of  the  ncrv  comers. 

One  of  the  ladics  -J^-a?  holding  a  bracelet  in 
her  )>and.  She  bad  already  two  bracelets  on 
each  inist.  and  erer  so  ninny  rin^;*  on  her  lingers, 
besides  a  large  brooch  in  her  i  ollar.  arrd  a  double 
gold  chain  to  her  watch,  nhh  a  ;:reat  nnmber  of 
brelofjues  and  charms  attached  m  ii.  r^iiv  seemed 
to  be  considering  whether  j*he  .^'loiild  iiiy  the 
bracelet  that  she  ira?  holding  in  )icr  hand  fn  not. 

''It  certainly  is  a  heanly/"  s>»?d  .<l:e. 

"Yes/'  said  the  other:  "a«id  \i  ]  i\vrr  you, 
Almira,  I  wo?ild  take  it  witho«»i  lic^itating  a  hh> 
iiicnt.     You  can  afford  it  jnst  as  well  as  nf>t." 

*' It  is  so  high!"  ?aid  .Almirft.  d'MiltfiH^vly,  anrJ 
holding  np  the  bracelet,  so  a»  to  .-ce  the  iiglil 
reflccled  tVom  the  surfaces  of  tlie  ))rcrinMs  ?tnnc.-^ 

"  i  don^t  think  it  is  high  at  all/'  said  hvr  IVitiid  } 
"that  is,  for  such  stone?  and  s?k1i  setting.  A 
Ihonsand  franc.'',  he  says,  and  that  is  rnly  two 
hundred  dollars.  That  is  nothing  at  all  lor  .sa 
rich  a  husband  as  yours." 

"  1  know,' said  Ahnira  ;  "but  then  he  always* 
makes  such  wry  faces  if  1  buy  any  thing  that 
costs  more  than  lifty  or  seventy-live  dollars." 

*'  1  would  not  mind  his  wrv  faces  at  all.'  said 


The    Jewelry.  205 


le  8)i()|>kfce]>er  said  in  rejily  to  Ahnini. 


ncr  friend.  "He  docs  not  mean  any  lliing  )jy 
tlieni.  Depend  upon  it,  he  is  as  proud  to  t^eoyou 
wear  liand^onie  tilings  as  any  man,  after  lie  has 
vince  paid  for  them.  Then,  besides,  perliajis  the 
man  will  take  something  off  from  the  thousand 
francs." 

"I  will  ask  him,"  said  Almira. 

So  she  called  the  shopman  to  her,  and  asked 
him  in  French  whether  he  could  not  tnko  eight 
hundred  francs  for  the  bracelet. 

She  accosted  him  in  French,  for  that  is  the  lan- 
guage of  Geneva;  and  the  two  ladies  had  talked 
very  freely  to  each  other  in  Englir^h,  snp])0sijig 
that  neither  the  shopkeeper  nor  the  new  jiarty 
of  customers  would  undci-stand  what  they  were 
saying.  But  it  happened  that  the  sliopkee})cr 
himself,  as  well  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  llolidr.y.  under- 
stood English  very  well,  and  thus  he  knew  the 
meaning  of  all  that  the  ladies  had  been  saying  ; 
and  he  was  too  well  acquainted  with  human  nature 
not  to  know  that  the  end  of  such  a  consultation 
and  deliberation  as  that  would  be  the  purchase 
of  the  bracelet,  and  was  therefore  not  at  all  dis- 
posed to  abate  the  jirice. 

"  No,  madam,''  said  he,  sjieaking  in  French,  and 
in  a  very  polite  and  obliging  manner  ;  ''  I  cannot 
vary  from  the  price  1  named  at  all.  We  are 
obliged  to  adopt  the  system  of  having  only  one 


106  ROLLO     IN     PrEXEVA. 

Apparent  generosity.  The  secret  motive  of  Albiira's  fritud. 

price  here.  Besides,  thai  bracelet  could  not  po^ 
Bibly  be  afforded  for  less  than  a  thousand  francs. 
Earlier  in  the  season  we  asked  twelve  hundred 
francs  for  it ;  and  I  assure  you,  madanij  that  it  ia 
a  great  bargain  at  a  thousand*^' 

After  looking  at  the  bracelet  a  little  longer, 
and  holding  it  up  again  in  different  lights,  and 
hearing  her  friend's  solicitations  that  she  would 
purchase  it  repeated  in  various  forms,  Almira 
f  nally  concluded  to  take  it. 

It  may  seem,  at  first  view,  that  Almira's  fliend 
evinced  a  great  deal  of  generosity  in  urging  her 
thus  to  buy  an  ornament  more  rich  and  costly 
tlian  she  could  hope  to  purchase  for  herself;  but 
her  secret  motive  was  not  a  generous  one  at  all. 
She  wished  to  quote  Almira's  example  to  her  own 
husband,  as  a  justification  for  her  having  bought 
II  richer  piece  of  jewelry  than  he  would  otherwise 
have  approved  of. 

"  Mine  only  cost  eight  hundred  francs,"  she  was 
going  to  say;  "and  cousin  Almira  bought  one 
tliat  cost  a  tliousand." 

In  this  way  she  hoped  to  exhiliit  to  her  husband 
that  which  he  might  otherwise  have  regarded  ili 
foolish  extravagance  in  the  light  of  self-denial 
and  prudent  ecunomy. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  Almira  and  hor  friend 
bad   heen  making   their  jmrchases  at  the  table, 


The    Jewelry.  207 


What  sort  of  ornaments  Mrs.  Holiday  asked  for. 


another  shopman  had  been  displaying  a  great 
many  trays  to  Mrs.  Holiday  on  one  of  the  coun- 
ters. The  ornaments  contained  in  these  trays 
were  by  no  means  as  costly  as  those  which  had 
been  shown  to  the  two  ladies  at  the  table ;  for 
Mrs.  Holiday  had  said  to  the  shopman,  as  she 
came  in,  that  she  wished  to  see  only  some  simple 
pins  and  other  ornaments  worth  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  francs.  They  were,  however,  just  as 
pretty  in  Mrs.  Holiday's  opinion.  Indeed,  the 
beauty  of  such  ornaments  as  these  seldom  has  any 
relation  to  the  costliness  of  them.  This,  however, 
constitutes  no  reason,  in  the  opinion  of  many 
ladies,  why  they  should  buy  the  less  expensive 
ones  ;  for  with  these  ladies  it  is  the  costliness  of 
an  ornament,  rather  than  the  beauty  of  it,  that 
constitutes  its  charm. 

The  two  ladies  paid  for  tlieir  purchases  with 
gold  coins  which  they  took  from  elegant  gold- 
mounted  porte-monnaies  that  they  carried  in  their 
hands,  and  then,  with  a  dash  and  a  flourish,  went 
away. 

Mrs.  Holiday  took  up  one  after  another  of  the 
ornaments  before  her,  and  looked  at  them  with  a 
musing  air  and  manner,  that  seemed  to  denote 
that  her  thoughts  were  not  upon  them.  She  was 
thinking  how  erroneous  an  estimate  those  ladies 
t'orm  of  the  comparative  value  of  the  different 


208  R  o  L  L  0   IN    Geneva. 

Mrs.  Holiilay*8  p»irch,ise8.  Hullu's.  Con.^in  Lucy. 

sources  of  happiness  witliin  the  reach  of  women 
who  sacrifice  the  confidence  and  lore  of  tbcir 
husbands  to  tlie  possession  of  a  pearl  neckloci;  or 
a  diamond  pin. 

Mrs.  Holiday  finally  bought  two  ornaments, 
and  RoUo  bought  two  also.  RoUo's  were  small 
pins.  They  were  very  pretty  indeed.  One  of 
them  cost  twelve  francs,  and  the  other  fifteen. 
His  mother  asked  liim  whether  he  was  going  to 
wear  thorn  himself. 

"  O,  no,  mother,"  said  he ;  "  I  have  bought 
them  to  give  away." 

His  mother  then  asked  liim  whom  he  was  going 
to  give  them  to.  He  lauirhed,  and  said  that  that 
was  a  secret.  He  would  tell  her,  however,  he 
said,  whom  one  of  them  was  for.  It  was  for  hi? 
cousin  Lucy. 

"And  which  of  them  is  for  her?"  asked  his 
mother. 

"This  one,"  said  Rollo.  So  saying  he  sliowed 
hia  mother  the  one  that  coet  twelve  francs. 


A  Fortunate    Accident.     209 

Mj'    Holiday's  idea  of  a  fc.rtuiiHte  riccidcnt.  UerV'ii- 


Chapter    X  Y  I. 
A  Fortunate    Accident, 

TiiE  day  before  Rollo  left  Geneva,  he  met  with 
an  accident  which  his  father  called  a  fortunate 
one,  though  Rollo  himself  was  at  first  inclined  to 
consider  it  quite  an  unfortunate  one.  The  reason 
why  Mr.  Holiday  considered  it  fortunate  was, 
that  no  evil  result  followed  from  it,  except  giving 
Rollo  a  good  fright.  "  It  is  always  a  lucky  thing 
for  a  boy,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "when  he  meets 
with  any  accident  that  frightens  him  well,  pro- 
vided it  does  not  hurt  him  much." 

The  accident  that  happened  to  Rollo  was  this  : 
Tliere  was  a  boy  at  the  hotel,  who  had  recently 
come  with  his  father  and  mother  from  India.  Ho 
was  the  son  of  an  English  army  officer.  Hig 
aaine  was  Gerald.  He  was  a  tall  and  handsome 
Doy,  and  was  about  a  year  older  than  Rollo. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  day  before  the  party 
were  to  leave  Geneva,  Rollo  came  in  from  the 
quay,  where  he  had  been  out  to  take  a  walk,  aad 
14 


210  RoLLO   IX    Gexeya. 


RoUo  forms  a  plan  of  going  out  in  a  boat. 

asked  permission  to  go  out  on  the  lake,  a  littlo 
way,  in  a  boat,  with  Gerald. 

"  Does  Gerald  understand  how  to  manage  a 
boat  ?  '^  asked  Mr.  Holiday. 

*'  0,  yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo.  "  He  has.  been  all 
over  the  world,  and  he  knows  how  to  manage 
every  thing.  Besides,  I  can  manage  a  boat  my- 
self well  enough  to  go  out  on  this  lake.  It  is  as 
emooth  as  a  mill  pond." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "Only  it 
must  not  be  a  sail  boat.  You  must  take  oars  ; 
and  look  out  well  that  the  Rhone  docs  not  catch 
you." 

Rollo  understood  very  well  that  his  father 
meant  by  this  that  he  must  be  careful  not  to  let 
the  current,  which  was  all  tiie  time  drawing  the 
water  of  the  lake  off  under  the  bridge,  and  thuj< 
forming  the  Rhone  below,  carry  the  boat  down. 
Rollo  said  that  he  would  be  very  careful ;  and 
off  he  went  to  rejoin  Gerald  on  the  quay. 

Gerald  was  already  in  tlie  boat.  He  had  with 
him,  also,  a  Swiss  boy,  whom  he  had  engaged  to 
go  too,  ai'-  a  sort  of  attendant,  and  to  help  row, 
if  necessary.  An  English  boy,  in  such  caf.es, 
never  considers  the  party  complete  unless  he  has 
some  one  to  occupy  the  place  of  a  servant,  aud 
to  be  under  his  command. 

So  the  three  boys  got  into  the  boat,  and  pushed 


A  Fortunate  Accident.  211 

They  have  a  jrood  time  on  tlic  wator.  The  current. 

off  from  the  shore.  For  a  time  every  thing  went 
on  well  and  pleasantly.  Rollo  and  the  others 
had  a  fine  time  in  rowing  to  and  fro  over  the 
smooth  water,  from  one  beautiful  point  of  laud  to 
another,  on  the  lake  shores,  and  sometimes  in 
lying  still  on  the  calm  surface,  to  rest  from  the 
labor,  and  to  amuse  themselves  in  looking  down 
in  the  beautiful  blue  depths  beneath  them,  and 
watching  the  fishes  that  were  swimming  about 
there.  At  last,  in  the  course  of  their  manosu- 
vrings,  they  happened  to  take  the  boat  rather  toe 
near  the  bridge.  The  attention  of  the  boys  was 
at  the  time  directed  to  something  that  they  saw 
in  the  water  ;  and  they  did  not  pcrceiv-e  how  near 
the  bridge  they  were  until  Rollo  happened  to  ob- 
serve that  the  stones  at  the  bottom  seemed  to  be 
rapidly  moving  along  in  the  direction  towards 
the  lake. 

"  My  !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  see  how  fast  the  stonea 
are  going  I  '^ 

"  The  stones  I  "  exclaimed  Gerald,  starting  up, 
and  seizing  an  oar.  "It's  the  boat!  We  are 
going  under  the  bridge,  as  sure  as  fate  !  Put  out 
your  oar,  Rollo,  and  pull  for  your  life !     Pull!  " 

r>olh  Rollo  and  the  Swfes  boy  immediately  put 
out  their  oars  and  pulled  ;  but  Gerald  soon  found 
that  the  current  was  too  strong  for  them.  In 
spite  of  all  they  could  do,  the  boat  was  evidently 
piowiv  drifting::  towards  the  bri(i":e. 


0  t.  L  n    t  s^    Ci  fi  stVk 


The  boat  g«ts  cariieJ  uuiJer  th«  liri«l}f«.  She?  strikes. 


"It  is  of  no  uf?c,"  said  Gerald,  at  last.  "  We 
shall  have  to  go  through  :  hut  that  will  do  no 
harm  if  we  can  only  manage  to  keep  her  from 
striking  the  piers.  Take  in  your  oars,  boys,  and 
let  rae  pull  her  round  so  as  to  head  down  stream, 
and  you  stand  ready  to  fend  off  when  we  are 
eoing  under." 

The  excitement  of  this  scene  was  very  great, 
and  Rollo's  first  impulse  was  to  scream  for  help  ; 
but  observing  how  cool  and  collected  Gerald  ap- 
peared, he  felt  somewhat  reassured,  and  at  onco 
obeyed  Gerald's  orders,  lie  took  in  his  oar,  and 
•lolding  it  in  his  hands,  as  if  it  liad  been  a  boat 
hook  or  a  setting  pole,  he  prepared  to  fend  off 
from  the  piers  when  the  boat  went  through.  In 
the  mean  time  Gerald  had  succeeded  in  getting 
the  boat  round,  so  as  to  jmiut  the  bows  down 
stream,  just  as  she  reached  the  bridge  ;  and  in 
this  position  she  shot  under  it  like  an  arrow 
Seveial  boys  who  were  standing  on  the  bridge  aV 
this  time,  after  watching  at  the  upper  side  till  the 
boat  went  under,  ran  across  to  the  lower  side,  to 
SCO  her  come  out. 

Thfe  boat  passed  through  the  bridge  safely, 
though  the  stern  struck*  against  the  pier  on  one 
«^ide,  just  as  it  was  emerging.  The  reason  of  this 
was,  that  Gerald,  in  bringing  it  round  so  as  to 
\ica(l   down    the  slieam,  had   given   il  a  rotatinjr 


A   FoiiTCJNATE    Accident.     21^ 

Rollo  afraid  of  snags.  Exertions  mad^  by  tho  boya. 

motion,  which  continued  while  it  was  passing 
under  the  bridge,  and  thus  brought  the  stern 
round  against  the  pier.  No  harm  was  done, 
however,  except  that  the  boat  received  a  rather 
rude  concussion  bj  the  blow. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  Gerald,  speaking  in  French, 
"  we  must  keep  her  head  and  stern  up  and  down 
the  stream,  or  we  shall  make  shipwreck." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  in  English  ;  "  if  we  should 
strike  a  snag  or  any  thing,  broadside  on,  the  boat 
would  roll  right  over." 

"A  snag!"  repeated  Gerald,  contemptuously. 
The  idea  was  indeed  absurd  of  finding  a  snag  in 
the  River  Rhone  ;  for  a  snag  is  formed  by  a  float- 
ing tree,  which  is  washed  into  the  river  by  the 
undermining  of  the  banks,  and  is  then  carried 
down  until  it  gets  lodged.  There  are  millions 
of  such  trees  in  the  Mississippi,  but  none  in  the 
Rhone. 

However,  Rollo  was  right  in  his  general  idea. 
There  might  be  obstructions  of  some  sort  in  the 
river,  which  it  would  be  dangerous  for  the  boat 
to  encounter  broadside  on  ;  so  he  took  hold  reso- 
lutely of  the  work  of  helping  Gerald  bring  it 
into  a  position  parallel  with  the  direction  of  the 
stream.  In  the  mean  time  the  boat  was  swept 
down  the  torrent  with  fearful  rapidity.  It  glided 
swiftly  on  amid  boiling  whirlpools  and  sheets  of 


214  RoLLO   IN   Geneva, 

Appearance  of  the  shores.  RoUo  loses  an  oar. 

rippling  foam,  that  were  quite  frightful  to  see. 
Tlie  buildings  of  the  town  here  bordered  the 
banks  of  the  river  on  each  side,  and  there  were 
little  jutting  piers  and  platforms  here  and  thcr(% 
with  boys  upon  them  in  some  places,  fishing,  and 
women  washing  clothes  in  others.  The  boys  in 
the  boat  did  not  call  for  help,  a?jd  so  nobody 
attempted  to  come  and  help  them.  Gerald's 
plan  was  to  keep  the  boat  headed  right,  and  so 
let  her  drift  on  until  she  had  passed  through  the 
town,  in  liopcs  of  being  able  to  bring  her  up 
somewhere  on  the  shore  below. 

At  one  time  the  force  of  the  current  carried 
them  quite  near  to  the  shore,  at  a  phice  where 
Gerald  thought  it  would  be  dangcious  to  attempt 
to  hind,  and  lie  called  out  aloud  to  RoUo  to  "fend 
otf."  Kollo  attempted  to  do  so,  and  in  the  attempt 
he  lost  his  oar.  He  was  standing  near  the  bows 
at  the  time,  and  as  he  planted  his  oar  against  the 
bottom,  the  current  carried  tlie  boat  on  with  such 
irresistible  impetuosity  that  the  oar  was  wrested 
from  his  hand  in  an  instant.  11"  he  had  not  let 
go  of  it  he  would  have  been  puUetl  over  himself. 
Gerald,  however,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
reach  out  his  own  oar  at  once,  and  di-aw  the  lost 
one  back  towards  the  boat,  so  that  the  Swiss  boy 
seized  it,  and,  to  Uollo's  great  joy.  took  it  io 
again. 


A  Fortunate  Accident.  215 

Narrow  escapia.  The  l^rat  at  leiigtli  fraina  the  shore. 

The  boat  at  ono  time  came  very  near  drifting 
agalDst  on'  of  the  great  water  wheels  which  were 
revolving  in  the  stream.  Gerald  perceived  the 
danger  just  in  time,  and  he  contrived  to  tnrn  the 
head  of  the  boat  out  towards  the  centre  of  the 
river,  and  then  commanding  Rollo  and  the  Swiss 
boy  to  row,  and  pulling,  himself,  with  all  his  force, 
he  just  succeeded  in  escaping  the  danger. 

By  this  time  the  boat  had  passed  by  the  town, 
and  it  now  came  to  a  part  of  the  river  ^hich 
was  bordered  by  smooth,  grassy  banks  on  each 
side,  and  with  a  row  of  willows  growing  near 
the  margin  of  tl  e  water.  This  was  the  place,  in 
fact,  where  Rolio  had  walked  along  the  shore 
with  his  motlier,  in  going  down  to  visit  the  junc- 
tion of  t-he  Rhone  and  the  Arve. 

"  Now,"  said  Gerald,  "  here  is  a  chance  for  ua 
to  make  a  landing.  Ill  head  her  in  towards  the 
shore." 

So  Gerald  turned  the  head  of  the  boat  in 
towards  the  bank,  and  then,  by  dint  of  hard 
rowing,  the  boys  contrived  gradually  to  draw 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  shore,  though  they  were 
all  the  time  drifting  rapidly  down.  At  last  the 
boat  came  so  near  that  the  bow  was  just  ready  to 
touch  the  bank,  and  then  Gerald  seized  the  paiut- 
cr.  and,  watching  his  opportunity,  leaped  ashore, 
and,  running  to  the  nearest  willow,  wound  the 


216  R  0  L  L  0    IN    Geneva. 

Gerald  succeeds  in  mtiking  fast.  The  boys  go  hom*?. 

painter  round  it.  This  at  once  checked  the  mo 
tion  of  the  bow,  and  caused  the  stern  to  swing 
round.  Gerald  immediately  unwound  the  painter, 
and  ran  to  the  willow  next  below,  where  he  wound 
it  round  again,  and  there  succeeded  at  last  in  mak- 
inof  it  fast,  and  stopping  the  motion  of  the  boat 
al together.  Rollo  and  the  Swiss  boy  then  made 
their  escape  safe  to  land. 

"There!"  said  Rollo,  taking  at  the  same  time 
a  high  jump,  to  express  his  exultation;  "there! 
Here  we  are  safe,  and  who  cares?  " 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Gerald,  calmly  ;  "it  is  very  easy 
to  say  Who  cares?  now  that  we  have  got  safe  to 
land  ;  but  you'll  lind  me  looking  out  sharp  not  to 
get  sucked  into  those  ripples  again." 

So  the  boys  went  home.  Gerald  found  a  man 
to  go  down  and  bring  back  the  boat,  while  R<>llo 
proceeded  to  the  hotel,  to  report  the  affair  to  his 
father  and  mother.  Mrs.  Holiday  was  very  mmii 
alarmed,  but  Mr.  Holiday  seemed  to  take  the 
matter  (pjite  coolly.  He  said  he  thought  tlmi 
Rollo  was  now,  for  all  the  rest  of  his  life  in 
much  less  danger  of  being  drowned  by  getting 
carried  down  riipids  in  a  river  than  he  v-ns 
before. 

"  He  understands  the  subject  now  somewhiil 
practically."  said  Mr.  Holiday. 


A   Fortunate    Accident.     217 

RolK)  '.\  ishcs  to  visit  the  vailvy  of  Chaniomii. 

The  term  of  Mr.  Holiday's  visit  liad  now  ex- 
pired, and  the  arrangements  were  to  be  made  for 
liaving  town,  with  a  view  of  returning  again  to 
Paris.  Rollo,  however,  was  very  desirous  that 
1)8  fore  going  back  to  Paris  they  should  make  at 
least  a  short  excursion  among  the  mountains. 

"  Wliere  shall  we  go?"  said  his  father. 

"  To  the  valley  of  Chamouni,"  said  Rollo. 
"  They  say  that  that  is  the  prettiest  place  in  all 
Switzerland." 

"  How  long  will  it  take  us  to  go  ?  "  asked  Mr. 
Holiday. 

"  We  can  go  in  a  day,"  said  Rollo.  "  There 
are  plenty  of  diligences.  The  offices  of  them  are 
here  all  along  the  quay. 

"  Or,  if  you  don't  choose  to  go  so  far  in  a  day," 
continued  Rollo,  "  you  can  go  in  half  a  day  to 
the  entrance  of  the  valley,  where  there  is  a  good 
place  to  stop,  and  then  we  can  go  to  Chamouni 
the  next  day.  I  have  studied  it  all  out  in  the 
guide  book." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "It  seems 
that  we  can  get  into  the  valley  of  Chamouni  very 
easily  ;  and  now  how  is  it  about  getting  out  ?  " 

At  this  question  Rollo's  countenance  fell  a 
little,' and  he  replied  that  it  was  not  so  easy  to 
j^et  out. 

"  There  is  no  wav  to  get  out,"  said  he,   *  except 


218  RoLLO    IN    Geneva. 

Description  of  the  vjilk-y  of  Chanioui:!.  Up  aud  down. 

to  go  over  tlic  mountains,  unless  we  come  back 
the  same  way  we  go  in.'' 

"  That  would  not  be  quite  so  pleasant,"  said 
Mr.  Holiday. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  it  would  be  better  to 
go  out  some  new  way.  But  there  is  not  any 
way.  It  is  a  long,  narrow  valley,  very  high  up 
among  the  mountain  glaciers.  There  is  a  way  to 
get  out  at  the  upper  end,  but  it  is  only  a  moun- 
tain pass,  and  wc  should  have  to  ride  over  on 
mules.  But  you  could  ride  on  a  mule  —  could 
not  you,  lather?  " 

"Why,  yes"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "perhaps  1 
could  ;  but  it  might  be  too  fatiguing  for  your 
mother.  She  has  not  been  accustomed  to  ride 
on  horseback  much  of  late  years. 

"Besides,"  he  continued,  "I  suppose  that  as  it 
is  a  mountain  pass,  the  road  must  be  pretty  steep 
and  diflicult." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "it  is  steep  some  part 
of  tlie  way.  You  have  to  go  up  for  half  an  hour 
by  zigzags  —  right  up  tlie  side  of  the  mountain. 
I  jead  about  it  in  the  guide  book.  Then,  after 
we  get  up  to  the  top  of  tlie  pass,  we  have  a  mon- 
strous long  way  to  go  down.  We  have  to  go 
down  for  two  hours,  as  steep  as  we  can  go." 

"  1  should  think  we  should  have  to  go  up  as 
nmch   as  doum"  said    Mr.   Holiday;  "for  it  ia 


A  Fortunate  Accident.  219 

Various  ways  of  getting  out  of  the  Tallej'. 

necessary  to  ascend  as  much  to  get  to  tUe  top  of 
any  hill  from  the  bottom  as  you  descend  in  going 
down  to  the  bottom  from  the  top." 

"Ah,  but  in  Chamouni,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  are 
Tcry  near  the  top  already.  It  is  a  valley,  it  ia 
true  ;  but  it  is  up  very  high  among  the  mountains, 
and  is  surrounded  with  snow  and  glaciers.  That 
is  what  makes  it  so  interesting  to  go  there.  Be- 
sides, we  can  see  the  top  of  Mont  Blanc  there, 
and  with  a  spy  glass  we  can  watch  the  people 
going  up,  as  they  walk  along  over  the  fields  of 
enow." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "  I  should  like  to 
go  there  very  well,  if  your  mother  consents  ;  and 
then,  if  she  does  not  feel  adventurous  enough  to 
go  over  the  mountain  pass  on  a  mule,  we  can,  at 
all  events,  come  back  the  same  way  we  go." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and,  besides,  father," 
he  continued,  eagerly,  "  there  is  another  way  that 
we  can  do.  Mother  can  go  over  the  mountain 
pass  on  a  carrying  chair.  They  have  carrying 
chairs  there,  expressly  to  carry  ladies  over  the 
passes.  They  are  good,  comfortable  chairs,  with 
poles  each  side  of  them,  fastened  very  sti'ong. 
The  lady  sits  in  the  chair,  and  then  two  men  take 
hold  of  the  poles,  one  before  and  the  other  beliiud, 
and  so  they  carry  her  over  the  mountains." 

''  I  should  think  that  would  be  very  easy  and 


220  "RoLLO   IN   Geneva. 

Mrs.  Holiday's  conclusion.  \Miat  RoUo  did  wixh  the  pin. 

very  comfortable,''  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "  Go  and 
find  your  mother,  and  explain  it  all  to  her,  and 
hear  what  she  says.  Tell  her  what  sort  of  a 
place  Chamouni  is,  and  what  there  is  to  be  3ecn 
there,  and  then  tell  her  of  the  diflcrent  ways 
there  will  be  of  getting  out  when  once  we  get  in. 
If  she  would  like  it  we  will  go." 

Mrs.  Holiday  did  like  the  i)lan  of  going  to 
Chamouni  very  niiicli.  She  .^^aid  she  thought  that 
she  could  go  over  the  mouutuin  })ass  on  a  mule  ; 
and  that  at  any  rate  >\\c  could  go  on  the  carrying 
chair.  So  the  excuision  was  decided  upon,  and 
the  party  set  otV  the  next  day. 

And  here  I  must  end  the  story  of  Rollo  at 
Geneva,  only  adding  that  it  proved  in  the  end 
that  the  lil'tccn  franc  pin  which  Rollo  bought, 
and  the  destination  of  wliich  he  made  a  secret  of, 
was  intended  for  his  mother.  He  kept  the  pin  in 
his  trunk  until  he  returned  to  America,  and  then 
sent  it  into  his  mother's  room,  with  a  little  note, 
one  morning  when  she  \v;as  there  alone.  Hia 
mother  kept  the  pin  a  great  many  years,  and 
wore  it  a  great  many  times  ;  and  she  said  she 
valued  it  more  than  any  other  ornament  she  had, 
though  she  had  several  in  her  little  strong  lx)X 
that  had  cost  in  money  lilty  times  as  much. 


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